n 








LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



Cliap.....!. Copyright No. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



CHIC AND I; 



OR. 



THF^: PRACTICAL TRAINING OF A DOG 
FOR THE GUN. 

BEING A COMMON SENSE AND THOROUGHLY PRACTICAL METHOD 
OF EDUCATING A HUNTING DOG FOR FIELD WORK, 
TOGETHER WITH ENTERTAINING AND IN- 
STRUCTIVE DESCRIPTIONS OF 
HUNTING TRIPS. 



ILLUSTRATED. 







BY BEN-HUR. 



CHICAGO: 

LEONARD GOODWIN, 

520 Reaper Block, 
1896. 



\o/L/i.^c:|'^ 



Of. 



-i^ 



h^ 



Copyrighted, 1896. 
By Leonard Goodwin, Chicago. 



■•/??- 



Contents* 

iNTUOnrCTION, 

ClIAl'TER I. 

Chic's Alphabet, 

Chaptek II. 

PUEI.IMINARIES, 



16 



Chapter III. 
ToHo: 26 

Chapter IV. 
Heel and Retrieve, .... 32 

Chapter V. 
Outdoor Lessons, . . - .42 

Chapter VI. 
Distemper, . . . • • .50 

Chapter VII. 
First Outing, . . . . .56 

Chapter VIII. 
La Presa, . . . . . -66 

Chapter IX. 
Retrieving from Water, . . .76 

Chapter X. 
Vacation, . . . . • .84 

Chapter XI. 
My First Deer, ..... 93 

Chapter XII. 
A Fight to a Finish, . . • 103 

Chapter XIII. 
A California Lion, . . • .100 



IV CONTENTS. 

Chapter XIV. 
NUEVO, . • • • • .110 

CuArTEH XV. 
Mukphy's Canyon, . . .125 



Chapter XVI. 
Cactus. 



Chapter XVII 1. 
Camp Life, 

Chapter XIX. 
More Camp Life, 

Chapter XX. 
Camp-Fire Stories, 



Chapter XXIII. 
M()RNiN(; Shoots, 



135 



Ch.vpter XVII. 
The Lagunas, . . • • . 14H 



. 151 



160 



Ifii) 



Chapiek XXI. 
A Change of Base, • . M!^ 

Chapter XX II. 
Pinnated Grouse, . . ■ • I'^'O 



11)0 



Chapter XXIV. 
In the Field, . . • • '-^^^ 

Chapter XXV. 
A Day wpih the Ducks, .... --25 

Chapter XXVI. 
Old Honkers, .... 240 

Chapter XXVII. 
The Deadly Quicksand, .... 257 



Introductory* 



lu the great field of sport, as in all other occupations 
or professions, there are always, and always will be, 
beginners, and the object of the succeeding chapters 
will be not only to entertain, but to assist the beginner 
in training his dog, finding the game with it, and using 
his gun. Good society throws around its members 
the protecting barrier of an introduction, admitting 
only those Avho can come Avell recommended. I will 
spend no time on my own introduction, modestly as- 
suming that the readers of these pages will come to the 
conclusion that he who now humbly knocks for ad- 
mittance to their charming circle is not altogether un- 
worthy. Neither would my boon companion, Chic, re- 
quire any introduction if you could see her. She is a 
liver, white and ticked pointer of the female persua- 
sion, bred in the purple, counting many prize winners 
in the field and on the bench among her ancestors. 
Her register number is 29072, and if you want to know 
any more about her than you will learn in these pages, 
you are respectfully referred to the A. K. C. S. B. 
She is a little beauty and is as good as she is hand- 
some. My other companion is a twelve-gauge ejector 
gun, and if I don't get the bird it is because I do not 
hold the gun properly. Chic and I are not particular 
when we are on a hunt. A couple of sandwiches in my 
shooting coat pocket will do for me for all day, and as for 
Chic, she utterly disdains food of any kind when there 
is a chance of regaling her delicate nostrils with the 
delicious scent of game, working all day on the 
promise of a good supper at nightfall. 



6 CHIC AND I 

To the man who really loves his dog it seems as if 
the latter could almost talk. Let a man, especially, be 
alone, having no family cares or joys, making his 
home in boarding houses or hotels, or in furnished 
rooms and restaurants; let this man take a puppy, 
rear it, nurse it through all its ills of puppyhood. and 
train it carefully for the field: let him make a daily 
companion of it, and it is astonishing how well the dog 
will grow to understand and love him, and it would be 
a sorry apology for a man who would not reciprocate. 
He will soon believethat thedog knows more than some 
school teachers, and that it can actually convey to him 
its wants and desires. In reading articles about dogs 
we often see such remarks as: "He wagged his tail 
as much as to say," or: "He looked up at me as much 
as to say," etc. In the succeeding chapters, in order 
to a void the repetition of the above and kindred phrases, 
I will put the language into the mouth of my four- 
footed friend, and I make this explanation so that 
none of my readers may think that I am writing fables 
or presuming too much on their credulity. If Chic 
does not actually use words and sentences, she comes 
as near it as any dog I ever saw, and some of them 
will say "Good morning," "Thank you," or "Get away 
from here," plainly enough to be perfectly well under- 
stood. 

I cannot close this self introduction without a word 
in favor of the American Field, the greatest sports- 
man's paper in the greatest and most progressive 
country on earth. When I first heard of the American 
Field I had just returned from a little outing and 
had thought it perfectly proper to shoot into a bunch 
of quails dusting themselves in the road. At that 
time I knew nothing about game seasons 
or the ethics of sportsmanship, and did not 
consider it necessary to give the bird any chance 
for its life. Indeed, as far as the latter con- 
sideration is concerned, the bird had all the chances 
in the world, even if it was on the ground, and if on 



CHIC AND I 7 

the wing it was as safe as though surrounded by a 
bullet-proof inclosure, for I could not have hit a 
flock of barns unless I was inside of one with the 
doors shut. But the sportsman's instinct was in me 
and when I began reading the American Field it did 
not take long for me to imbibe the principles of true 
sportsmanship which it continually and tirelessly and 
fearlessly inculcates. I can give no better advice to 
the beginner than to at once subscribe for the 
American Field and continue to take it and read it 
thoroughly. It will make you asliauied t© do any un- 
sportsmanlike tiling. 



CHAPTER I 

Chic's Alphabet. 

Chic came to me one evening in September and she 
was about the dirtiest and certainly the hungriest 
puppy I ever saw. She had come all the way from 
Ohio to San Diego, California, and I do not believe 
those express messengers had given the poor thing 
a bite to eat all the w^ay. She was perfectly ravenous, 
and on the way from the express office to my office 
she strained at the lead chain all the way in the vain 
attempt to find something in the gutters to satisfy her 
voracious appetite. My friend and I critically ex- 
amined her, after first giving her a good supper, to 
which she did ample justice, and pronounced her first- 
class. She was then about four months old, and the 
next morning after she had had a good bath and a 
rub-down with a dry flannel cloth, she was a sight to 
do a sportsman's eyes good. "A thing of beauty is a 
joy forever," and so it proved in this case, for I have 
always been proud of Chic. 

I intended to train her myself and went at it imme- 
diately, her first lesson being given her the first morn- 
ing that I owned her. But the first lesson was a very 
simple one, as it consisted simply in bathing her, 
rubbing her down and petting her a little, being very 
careful, in all of this, not to hurt her at all or give her 
any cause for alarm, and after this giving her a light, 
but toothsome breakfast. The object of this was to 
gain her confidence and affection, and it was, and 
generally is, very easily done. For a week she was 
kept tied up except twice a day, when I gave her a 



10 CHIC AND I 

little exercise, and during this time no one was allowed 
to pet or fondle her, or feed her. At the end of the 
week she was allowed a little more freedom and gen- 
erally spent the day with me at the office. 

The first two weeks, however, were spent in a care- 
ful, painstaking endeavor to impress upon her mind 
that I was her friend and that of no one else could she 
expect as good treatment as from me. Then I began 
her more especial training. The first lesson was to 
charge. For this lesson I prefer a puppy of from sii 
to ten weeks old. Their little muscles and bones are soft 
and pliable then, and more easily and readily adapt 
themselves to strained or unnatural positions. I do 
not believe in feeding very much raw meat even to a 
grown dog, and only a very little or none at all to a 
puppy. For this reason a taste of raw meat once in 
a while is relished by them very much. Taking a 
couple of pieces of raw meat of about half an ounce 
weight each and taking her just before meal time 
and when she was quite hungry, I gave her one of 
the pieces of meat. Of course she gulped it down 
with a relish and plainly asked for more. Instead of 
this, however, I put one hand upon her shoulders, 
the other upon her haunches and quietly and slowly, 
out firmly, forced her down into a "charge" position. 
She whined a little and squirmed considerably, and 
as soon as she found herself on the floor she turned 
over on her back and put her paws up pleadingly. 
She was quietly turned over again, her tail and fore- 
paws straightened, and her head gently forced down 
upon the latter. Up to this time I had not said a 
word, but the instant the correct position was at- 
tained, 1 said quietly and in an ordinary tone of voice: 
"Sh! Charge!'' Whether it was from astonishment at 
the unusual performance or startled at the sound of 
my voice I know not, but she was still for the space 
of probably a couple of seconds, when I abruptly re- 
moved both hands, snapped my fingers and exclaimed 
sharply and in a little louder tone, "Up!" She sprang 



CHIC AND I 11 

to her feet and capered around in great glee, and was 
immediately given a second piece of meat. Then she 
was petted a trifle and led out to her meal. Only one 
lesson per day was given the first two or three days, 
and then two lessons per day were given. This must 
be regulated by the disposition of the dog. If he shows 
fright, more care must be taken with him and the 
first lessons must be made shorter and farther be- 
tween. If the dog is apt and takes readily to his in- 
structions, he may be proceeded with more rapidly. 

About the third or fourth lesson after she had be- 
come quiet in the position of ''charge" I gently lifted 
my hands from her a trifle. She instantly started to 
spring up but at the first indication of a move she 
found the strong hand pressing her down and the 
command "Sh!" was given. Then the hands were 
again lifted a trifle. This time she remained quiet, 
and in two or three seconds the command "Up!" was 
given, accompanied always with a snap of the fingers, 
and she was released. At each lesson after this the 
same maneuver v.^as repeated and at the end of three 
or four days from the time this was begun I could 
stand upright and wait for five minutes before giv- 
ing her the command that released her from the posi- 
tion. Each lesson was given just before feeding her 
and each lesson was accompanied by something that 
she liked to eat. If she obeyed readily and did well, 
she was immediately rewarded by the dainty, and 
at once given her food. If she was recalcitrant and 
stubborn, she was made to comply and then went 
without the tid-bit and the meal was postponed for an 
hour or so. It is astonishing how soon an intelligent 
dog will learn that his good treatment depends upon 
his good behavior; that dainties and praises follow 
obedience, and punishment of some kind, not neces- 
sarily corporal punishment, but a punishment as sure 
and uncompromising as fate, follows disobedience, 
slothfulness or stubbornness. I praised Chic un- 
stintedly when she did well; scolded her very little 



12 CIITC AND I 

and whipped her not at all— at this stage of her train- 
ing—when she performed poorly. She soon learned to 
appreciate and love my praises and looked very for- 
lorn and downcast when she was reproved instead. 

After getting her to the stage where I could stand 
up and hold her in the position, I then moved slightly 
away from her. At the first movement of my foot, 
she turned her head sharply to see what I was doing. 
Instantly the head was replaced in position, the com- 
mand repeated, and I again moved slightly away. 
This time only the eyes rolled around inquiringly, but 
the dainty head remained as if fastened to the fore- 
I'/aws. An instant I held her so and then released 
hei'. This was repeated day after day until I could go 
to the other end of the room and she would not move. 
At first I remained always in her sight, but now I be- 
gan to move away from her and back of her. The 
temptation to turn her head and to look to see where 
I was going, female curiosity, I suppose, was almost 
irresistible, but patience and firmness overcame this 
also. Then I went farther and would go into the next 
room. Here, through the crack of the door where it is 
hung on the hinges, I could watch her and she did not 
know I was looking. If she moved ever so slightly 
the command "Sh!" warned her that she was watched 
and that there was no escape but to obey. When I 
could go into the next room and read the paper and 
smoke a cigar and come back and find her unmoved, 
I considered her education in this one matter com- 
pleted. Once she took advantage of me. I came back 
from the other room and found her standing on nei 
hindfeet looking out of the window intently watching 
some dogs across the way. So intent was she that 
slie had not heard me, and with a folded newspaper in 
my hand, I stole up softly behind her and brought it 
doAvn with a sounding thwack across her hip. Of 
course it didn't hurt her, but she was badly frightened, 
and I then took her back to the place where she had 
been made to charge, put her at charge again and 



CniC AND I 13 

kept her there for au hour. The little piece of chicken 
^^ hich I had for her was put away and did duty at the 
afternoon lesson. She never forgot it and I had no 
trouble with her after that. I do not think very much 
of the '"charge" position for field work. It seems to me 
to be a hardship on the dog to command him to charge 
at the sound of the gun and at the most exciting mo- 
ment, the very moment when he is all attention, when 
every fiber of his being trembles Avith nervous 
anxiety to see what becomes of the birds, when every 
nerve in his extremely nervous body is strung to its 
highest pitch, to then oblige him to sink out of sight 
with his head between his paws and lose all the 
pleasure of the sport, seems to me to be little short of 
absolute cruelty. If the dog is standing at "toho," he 
can see what is going on, see whether the bird falls 
or not, and in a very short time will learn to mark 
down the birds which escape the gun much more ac- 
curately than his master can. But if you wish to take 
your dog with you into your blind where you are 
hunting ducks or geese, immediate and strict obedience 
to tlie command is indispensable. If you are sitting 
comfortably there watching your decoys, and suddenly 
see a flock of birds coming swiftly toward you, there 
is no time to argue with your dog. He is sitting up 
beside you; perhaps he has seen the same flock of 
birds before you did; there is no time to beg him to 
drop, no time to command him in a loud voice to lie 
down, no time to take him by the nape of the neck and 
force him down. Everything must be done swiftly 
and noiselessly and at the softly breathed "Sh!" he 
must sink out of sight as completely and quietly as 
the snowflake on the bosom of the river. 

But there are also times when you require your dog 
to lie down merely for the purpose of getting him out 
of the way, either for his own sake or for the con- 
venience of those about him, as in a crowded room. 
For such purposes as this it does not seem necessary 
to make the dog charge. The charge position is not 



14 CHIC AND I 

a comfortable one. I have occasionally seen dogs quietly 
settle into it of their own free i^ni but they seldom main 
tain it long of their own desire. It is a very simple 
matter to teach the dog the difference between 
"charge" and "lie down," the latter meaning that he 
may take any position he chooses so long as he lies 
down out of the way and stays there, while the former 
means, as we well know, that he must take a particu- 
lar position. Chic took very readily to the command 
to lie down, and it was only the work of a very few lessons 
to teach her. Approaching her when she was standing 
up I said quietly, but in a tone of command: "Lie 
down!" at the same time placing my hand upon her 
shoulders and forcing her down. She rolled over on 
her side and grinned at me and I permitted her to re- 
tain the position. Keeping her there a few minutes, 
I gave the command "Up!" and she jumped quickly to 
her feet. After a very few lessons, at the command to lie 
down, she would seek some favorite corner, which I 
also permitted, and curl herself up in a comfortable 
position and quietly compose herself for a nap. If I 
wanted her to lie down in a particular corner, I would 
walk to that corner, call her to me, point to the corner 
and give the command. In a short time it was un- 
necessary for me to go to the particular corner or spot. 
I only had to point to it when she would walk over 
and lie down at the command. I had a blanket for 
her to lie on in one corner of a closet which opened 
riglit off from my office. After teaching her the com- 
mand to lie down thoroughly, I began to take her into 
the closet, point to her bed and say "Lie down; go to 
bed!" After a couple of times the words "lie down" 
were omitted and in four or five lessons she learned 
that "go to bed" meant to go to this particular place 
and lie down and stay there. I never used the com- 
mand "go to bed" except when I intended to have her 
go to this particular spot, and thus she never con- 
fused it with anything else. 
It is a great comfort to have your dog so thoroughly 



CTTTC AND I 15 

under your control that you may prevent him from 
becoming a nuisance to other people. Everyone does 
not like dogs, and if your dog persists in making him- 
self too familiar with strangers he may get hurt, 
you may get angry and your new acquaintance may 
feel insulted. If your dog is taught to lie down in- 
stantly at the command, or to go to any corner you 
may point out, and lie down out of the way, you pre- 
vent him from getting hurt, prevent others from think- 
ing tJiat he is a nuisance, and add greatly to your own 
peace of mind. 



CHAPTER II 

Preliminaries^ 

It may as well be confessed right here that the writer 
is an old bachelor and at the time of which I am now 
writing, my rooms w^ere on the same floor as my 
oflice and opened right off the office through the closet 
mentioned in the foregoing chapter. At first Chic had 
a kennel made for her at the foot of the back stairs. 
Every morning when I went down to unloose her, I 
would stop on the top step, and out of her sight, and 
whistle. Each time I carried a little piece of cracker 
or some little thing that she liked to eat. I used the 
same whistle all the time, and by proceeding in this 
fashion she soon learned that the whistle meant that 
I was coming and that there was something good to 
eat in it, and at the sound of the whistle she would 
scramble out of her kennel and tug frantically at the 
chain, in desperate efforts to get away and run to me. 
I do not whistle very loudly with my mouth, so I 
in^ ested in a bicycle whistle and in a very few days 
of the above training she would come on a run at the 
sound of the whistle. She gradually picked up the 
meaning of the word "come," also, but I was doubtful 
of the utility of this picked-up knowledge and re- 
sults showed that my doubts were well founded. 

One day I had occasion to punish her for some 
breach of decorum in her indoor habits, and shortly 
after I called her to come to me. She was lying down 
in a corner across the room and when I said "come," 
she only looked at me and curled herself up a little 
tighter. It was just what I wanted her to do, for now 



CHIC AND I 17 

was the opportunity to teach her that she must come 
when called, and that it was not at all optional with 
her whether she came or not. I had a stout cord con- 
venient, one wants one always at hand when training 
a puppy, and this I immediately tied to her collar, 
then going back across the room, I again said "come." 
She looked quietly at me and plainly intimated that 
she didn't care anything about seeing me. I instantly 
began hauling her in rapidly hand over hand. She 
came part of the way on her belly, part on her back 
and part on her side. She came none of the way on 
her feet. When she arrived she was a very much 
surprised dog, but I petted her and caressed her and 
made as much over her as though she had done a 
great thing. Then I let her loose and she went back 
to her corner and laid down again. The cord was 
still attached to her collar and after waiting about a 
minute, I repeated the command, "come." She only 
looKeQ yt me and replied that she was comfortable 
where she was, and the next moment she was skat 
ing across the floor again in the most undignified man- 
ner possible. Again she was petted as though she 
had done perfectly right and again the operation was 
repeated. Some five or six times the trial was made 
but with no apparent effect. She got angry and 
so did I, and when I found myself getting angry I 
quit. If you cannot control your temper do not try to 
train a dog; the moment you feel your anger getting 
the upper hand, stop right there and begin again when 
ycu get cooled off. 

The next day I got out the cord and repeated the 
lesson, but all to no purpose. She positively would not 
come and I now saw, what I had not noticed before, that 
she was inclined to be very stubborn when once she 
"got sot" in her way. Again I found myself getting 
very angry and again I quit, but I made up my mind 
AAhat to do next day. I was thoroughly convinced 
from the way Chic acted that she knew what I meant 



15 



CHIC AND I 



by tlje command to come and that her failure to obey 
was due to nothing but stubbornness. 

Next daj I left the cord off and took down my dog 
whip. We were both in good humor; Chic had been 
out for a play and was as contented and happy as 
could be. I called her to come, and the moment I 
spoke the word she dropped her ears and sneaked off 




CHIC AND I — "l WAS GLAD TO SEE HER COME. 



iu the opposite direction and laid down. I walked 
over to her and struck her a good hard blow with the 
whip, then w^alked back across the room and repeated 
the command. She paid no attention and I walke<l 
over and cut her again. This time I struck her as hard 
as 1 could, and I saw the flesh raise in a welt where 



CHIC AND I 19 

the whip cut. It seems cruel to write of it; it 
seemed cruel to do it; it seemed so at the time, but I 
then thought and still think that there was no other 
way under the circumstances. She plainly knew what 
1 wanted and stubbornly refused to do it, although she 
was nhvays petted or fed when she did it and given to 
understand in every way that it was what I wanted. 
I kept mj temper and administered the punishment 
methodically and severely. I don't know how long it 
took; it seemed hours to me before she finally came to me. 
But she finally did. She came crawling across the 
room on lier stomach and I tell you I was glad to see 
her come. I threw down the whip and petted and 
caressed her, perhaps I kissed her, I don't remember, 
but at any rate I made her understand that it was all 
right. Then I went across the room intending to call 
her over to me, but when 1 got there I found her right 
at my heels. I then made her charge and went back 
and called her to me. She was very glad to come. 
After this had been repeated several times she came 
on the jump, and seemed to have forgotten all about 
her whipping. But she had not forgotten it. She al- 
ways knew what "come" meant after that. I took 
her out and washed her in a mixture of alcohol, arnica 
and witch hazel, and the next day there wasn't a sign 
of the punishment and not a particle of soreness. I do 
not believe in much whipping, but I do believe that 
the proverb: "Spare the rod and spoil the child" is 
fully as applicable to dogs as to children. 

I had to repeat this lesson for Chic about two years 
afterward. I had tried to break her of rolling in car- 
rion, and had succeeded pretty well, when one day 
she came in smelling of something foul. I went out 
to see what it was, and finally found a dead bird that 
she had been rolling on. I called her to come to me, 
but she, knowing that she was going to get her nose 
rubbed in it, refused to come and stuck her tail be- 
tween her legs and ran away from me. It was no 
longer a question of the carrion, but one of obedience. 



20 CHIC AND I 

I went over to the office and got my cord and wbip. 
she running along by the way perfectly satisfied and 
doubtless thinking that she had got the best of me. 
I got the cord and whip and started back. When near 
the place I called her in to heel and walked along, 
but she sneaked away without my noticing her and 
when I got there she was nowhere in sight, fiere 
were two infractions; the thing was getting serious. 
I soon found her, and, putting on the cord, took her 
back to the carrion. Letting her loose, she ran to the 
full length of the cord. When I told her to come she 
positively refused, and not only refused but tried to 
get away. It was the same old fight over again, only it 
was more severe this time. She was full grown now; 
she was only a puppy at the first trial. I think the 
contest lasted about two hours but she finally sub- 
mitted, crawled up to me, and was visibly surprised 
when I just touched her nose to the offensive object 
and then petted and talked kindly to her instead of 
whipping her for rolling in it. She never refused to 
come when called after that and has never rolled in 
carrion since. 

One of the most important things to be observed 
in teaching a dog to come readily when called is never 
to punish him when he comes to you. If the dog de- 
serves punishment go to him and administer it; never 
call him to you and then whip him. This calling 
a dog up and then whipping him after he comes 
is responsible more than anything else for so many 
dogs coming in a cringing manner when called. Noth- 
ing so quickly appeals to the sympathy and love of 
a true friend of the dog as to see him come in to his 
master in a manner that plainly betokens fear. There 
is no necessity for it, and if the dog is properly trained 
he will come gladly, at once and under any circum- 
stances when called. 

Chic is very fond of play, and yet no matter how 
interesting her game, no matter how choice some 



CHIC AND I 21 

morsel that she has just found, she comes at once 
and on a run when called. 

One other lesson is necessary before teaching the 
fundamental one of "toho!" That is the lesson to 
jump when ordered. I placed a chair at a convenient 
place and bade her "get up in the chair." Of course 
she did not know what that meant, but by placing 
my hand above the chair, patting it and snapping 
my fingers she discovered that something was wanted 
up there. She placed her feet upon the chair and 
then, assisting herself by her hindfeet, climbed up. 
She was immediately rewarded and praised. Then 
saying "stay there" I walked away. She immediately 
started to jump down, but repeating the command, 
accompanied with a lifting of the hand, was suflS- 
cient to keep her there. When ready to have her 
down the command "jump" was given, accompanied 
by a snap of the fingers, and she immediately jumped 
down. The connection here of these motions with 
those of former lessons will be plainly seen. The 
command to stay there was new to her, but the up- 
lifted hand was immediately associated in her mind 
with the former lesson in "charge." She knew that 
that meant that she was not to move from her posi- 
tion, whatever it might be, and a few lessons of this 
kind so fixed the words in her mind that it became 
unnecessary to raise the hand. Neither did she know 
what the word "jump" meant, but she knew that 
when she was released from the position of charge 
it was done with a snap of the finger, and she readily 
associated that sound with the desire to do as she 
wanted to. She wanted to jump down because she 
knew that I had a piece of meat in my hand, and 
when I snapped my fingers down she came. This was 
kept up until at the command to get up in the chair 
she would readily go to the chair pointed out and 
either jump or climb into it. Then another chair was 
placed exactly opposite it and at the command "jump" 
I held my hand over the other chair with a small 



22 CHIC AND I 

piece of meat held in my fingers in plain sight. She 
would leap from her chair, cross the room at a bound, 
and jump into the other one, and was then rewarded 
with the coveted piece of meat. When this lesson 
was sufiiciently learned I did away with the first 
chair and used only one, using also only the one com- 
mand "jump." 

At first I always took care to use a chair on the op- 
posite side of the room, as her anxiety to get the- 
meat would lead her to come quickly, and as she could 
jump into the chair quicker than she could stop and climb, 
and so get the meat quicker, she invariably did so. 
A little later I would take her up close to the chair 
and say "jump!" If she showed a disposition to 
climb she was gently pressed back and not allowed 
to get into the chair in that way. If after one or 
two trials she still persisted in trying to climb she 
was again taken across the room and given a little 
run for it. By persevering in this method she finally 
learned that the only way for her to get that piece 
of meat was by jumping after it, and then the les- 
son was learned. 

Many will call this nonsense and poppy-cock, and 
all that, but it is a great comfort to have the wagon 
drive up and at the command have your dog jump 
into it, and then at the word have him lie down out 
of the way and stay there until you are ready to use 
him. I used to hunt with a man who never allowed 
his dogs to jump either in or out of the wagon. This 
was all very well when they were puppies, but when 
they got to be grown dogs weighing from fifty to 
fifty-five pounds each it was no fun to lift them in 
and out of the wagon with their feet sprawling in 
every direction, and just as liable to poke you in the 
eye as not. His reason was that he did not want them 
to jump out of the wagon and go off hunting on their 
own account, and that when he left them in the 
wagon for a few minutes and went away he wanted 
to know that he would find them there when he 



CHIC AND 1 23 

came back. If he had taught his dogs to "stay 
there" when told, there would have been no 
danger of their leaving the wagon while he was 
gone. In the present chapter I did not place much 
stress on this command, but I will here say that un- 
der no circumstances did I ever allow Chic to get 
down out of the chair, or, later on, to move from any 
place where I had placed her and told her to stay, 
until she was given permission. The result is that 
when I get ready for a hunt Chic dances around the 
wagon until she is told to jump in, and she never 
loses any time in obeying that welcome command. 
When the hunting grounds are reached I get out, 
arrange matters about the horse and wagon, assem- 
ble my gun, put the shellls in my pocket and then, 
with a snap of the fingers and the word "jump" 
Chic is out in a jiffy. In order to try her I have 
sometimes got everything ready and deliberately 
walked off and left her in the wagon. The expres- 
sion of grief and anxiety on her face at such times 
Avas pitiful, but she never jumped out until told. 

The command is useful at other times also. How- 
many times have you started off somewhere and 
would have liked to take your dog with you, but did 
not know what to do with him after you got there? 
The run with the buggy would be a splendid thing 
for your housed up city dog, but at the end of your 
journey you had some business or pleasure to at- 
tend to and the poor dog would be in the way. Well, 
I have many times driven out on such trips, and at 
the end of the journey I would simply put Chic in 
the buggy and then, without strap or chain of any 
kind, with no fastening at all, simply say "stay there," 
and raise my hand warningly and go about my busi- 
ness. I have left her that way for two and a half to 
three hours at a time and never failed to find her 
in the buggy when I returned. How often, too, have 
you been out after quails, grouse or something of 
that kind and unexpectedly run across a little flock 



24 CHIC AND I 

of ducks feeding in some small pond or a bend in the 
river where you could make a splendid sneak on 
them— if it were not for the dog? In such cases, too, 
I have often left Chic in the buggy while I went after 
the game. When your dog will sit and watch you 
go after game, see the gun in your hand and know 
well what you are after, when she will see the shot 
and perhaps even see the bird fall and not offer to 
leave the buggy, then you may consider that the 
command to "stay there" is well learned, and that 
the results are fully worth the trouble it has been 
to attain them. Then if your bird falls in the water 
you turn to your dog and whistle, or beckon with 
your hand if the wind is too strong, or the dis- 
tance too great for the whistle to be heard, and see 
him leap with a glad bound out of the buggy and 
"fill the air full of himself," as a friend of mine used 
to say, in getting to you, then you are repaid for 
double the trouble it has been to teach him all this. 
Many will say: "Pshaw! I'll send my dog to a 
trainer and have him trained right and not go to all 
that trouble." Well and good if you can spare the 
$100 that it costs to have your dog well ti-ained. 
But even then, if I were only to keep one or two dogs, 
I would prefer to train them myself for the reason 
that the dog will always work more willinglj^ for the 
man who has handled him and taught him all that 
he knows. Again, if you have trained the dog your- 
self and he afterward develops some fault, or if 
in the excitement of the hunt he forgets some part 
of his teaching, you will know how to correct the 
fault, while, if you have not trained him yourself, 
you will be utterlj'- at sea, and in attempting to cor- 
rect it may only make a bad matter worse. I dc 
not wish to seem to be interfering with the work of 
the professional trainers. There are many of them, 
and many good ones, and I trust there will always 
be enough sportsmen who have money to pay for the 
work, and neither time nor inclination to do it them- 



CHIC AND 1 2$ 

selves, to keep them busy. But my own experience 
is that the average amateur who is young and has 
time and patience will find that the trouble of train- 
ing his own dog will be more than repaid by the 
added satisfaction that he w^ill afterward derive 
from his dog's work. You will never know, until 
you have tried it, the feeling of utter complacency 
and peace with all the world that comes from see- 
ingyourpet do an unusually fine piece of workand know 
that that is the result of your own patience, persistency 
and kindness. Perhaps the aggravation of seeing your 
dog make an inexcusable blunder where you are cer- 
tain that he knows better is enhanced also; I do not 
know just how that is. 



CHAPTER III 

Toho! 

Having passed through the preliminaries I now con- 
sidered it time to talie up the most important lesson 
in Chic's education. The lesson in "toho" is the funda- 
mental lesson in the whole system of dog training. 
Upon its perfect success depends, in a great measure, 
the success of all the other branches. It is not indispen- 
sable that the word "toho" shall be used. Any other 
word that is short and sharp, such as "whoa!" "ah!" or 
"hi!" may be employed. It is only necessary to have 
some word or sound hearing which the dog will imme- 
diately become immovable. If you wish to train your 
dog so that no one can use him but yourself, you may 
employ words not ordinarily used by sportsmen, and 
then if some villain without the fear of the Lord be- 
fore his eyes steals your dog, either with the idea of 
keeping him or only to use for some afternoon's sport, 
he will, as he ought, find the dog useless to him. I 
knew one sportsman who was familiar with the Indian 
language and he trained his dog altogether in that 
tongue, and it would do you good to see that dog 
get over the ground to retrieve a bird at the com- 
mand "Uh! uh!" given in a grunt. 

Of such importance do I consider this lesson that 
I would not give it to the dog at first. I would rather 
the dog had first imbibed some idea of obedience 
and had been given enough preliminary instruction 
to understand that it was not play but business, and 
that his well being and happiness depended upon 
his obedience and tractability. If the preliminary 



CHIC AND I 27 

lessons have been tlioroug:hly given there will be very 
little trouble in the present one. None of the earlier 
lessons, however, require so much patience from both 
dog and master, and, although thoroughness in all 
the lessons should be conscientiously observed, yet a 
little laxity in the former lessons will not be nearly 
so unfortunate in its results as in the lesson of "toho!" 

I took Chic when she was quite hungry, as I had 
purposely allowed a longer time than usual to elapse 
since her previous meal. Taking a firm hold on her 
collar with my left hand I took two small pieces of 
meat in my right hand. Giving her one of them to 
whet her appetite a little more, I passed the other 
one in front of her nose so that she could make no 
mistake as to what it was and dropped it on the floor 
in front of her and just out of her reach. Of course she 
made a lunge for it, and when she found she w^as 
held she struggled frantically to get at it. I held her 
firmly until she became perfectly quiet and then said 
quietly, "toho!" Holding her for perhaps two or three 
seconds after giving the w^ord I let her go, at the 
same time snapping my fingers and clucking to her. 
This is the first time that the "cluck" has been em- 
ployed, and the idea is to give her to understand that 
when she hears that sound she is at liberty to do 
whatever she pleases. In this instance she pleased 
to pick up the meat very quickly. Many amateurs 
in training the dog in this lesson wall use the w'ords 
"pick it up." It comes very natural to say this, and 
the dog will very readily learn what the words mean, 
but if the words are used in this connection they can- 
not be afterward used in teaching the dog to retrieve, 
for he will invariably associate the words "pick it 
up" with the idea of eating something, and when told 
to pick up a dead bird will immediatel)' pinch and 
mouth it all out of shape. 

I proceeded with this lesson very much in the same 
manner as in the first lesson. At first I gave only 
one short lesson a day. After three or four days I 



28 



CHIC AND I 



f^iive two lessons per day. The object in proceeding 
thus carefully is not to tire or disgust the puppy. The 
lessons were short and made more and more frequent 
as she progressed, although, of course, when more 
than two lessons per day were given each lesson could 
not be followed by a full meal. Indeed this is not 
necessary except at first. The idea is to let the dog 
learn that if he does his work well he will be re- 
warded; if otherwise he will not be rewarded, and 




CHIC AND I — TOHO 



will perhaps be chided, perhaps punished, according 
to the gravity of his offense. At the fourth or fifth 
lesson I took my hand from her collar, and, as in the 
first lessons on "charge," she immediately moved. 
Instantly she was checked, and if she had moved a 
foot out of place she was gently put back into the 
first position and the command repeated. Absolute 
immobility is important in this lesson. I did not al- 
low her to even turn her head or lift a foot after the 
command was given. Gradually prolonging the time 
between the command to toho and the permission to 
take the meat, I soon had her so T could hold her for 



CHIC AND I 29 

five minutes or more. Then a cord was put on the 
collar and the meat was thrown farther from her. 
Holding her for a short time, perhaps ten seconds, at 
toho I clucked to her and said "Go on." She sprang 
forward, but just as she reached the meat she was 
checked by the cord and commanded to toho! Held 
in this position for about half a minute she was al- 
lowed to pick up the meat, but only at the command. 
This lesson was gone through with in the same man- 
ner as before, and when perfect in it the meat was 
thrown clear across the room and she was checked 
two or three times before reaching it. At these and 
all succeeding lessons I added to the cluck the words 
"Go on." This was for the purpose of teaching her 
to go on when ordered, but she must not pick up the 
meat until clucked to. 

Chic showed considerable impatience in these les- 
sons and I proceeded very slowly and carefully. 
Having finally perfected her in this I began to teach 
her to proceed carefully. Naturally when given the or- 
der to go on she would make a lunge forward so as to 
get the meat. Throwing the meat clear across the room 
I held a taut cord on her and said "Go on," but when 
she started as before to run for it I said "careful," 
at the same time holding her by the cord so that she 
could proceed but slowly. I should have said that 
before entering on this part of the lesson she was so 
far perfected in "toho" that I could stop her as many 
times as I chose without the use of the cord at all. 
Indeed, I could even stop her right at the piece of 
meat, call her back and send her to it again without 
using the cord. Proceeding with the lesson in "care- 
ful" as above shown, stopping her two or three times 
on the way, I soon had her so that I could start her 
out and she would proceed very slowly and cautiously, 
as though on a hot scent, come to "toho" at the meat, 
pick it up at command and run back to me wagging 
her tail knowing that she had done well. One thing 
more was needed to perfect her in toho, and that was 



30 CHIC AND I 

to Stop at the motion of the hand without the voice. 
In order to do this I put a screw-ej^e in the door 
easing and passed the cord through it. Then caUing 
her to me I crossed over to the opposite side of the 
room and dropped the meat at my feet. Then cluck- 
ing to her I let her come two or three feet and then 
called "toho!" at the same time checking her with the 
cord and raising my right hand perpendicularly above 
my head. And here I made quite a serious error which 
young trainers will do well to profit by. As stated, I 
raised my right hand with the command to toho but 
I would hold it there until ready to let her come on. 
She soon learned to watch my hand, and when I 
started to lower it she was ready to move. She even 
watched my fingers, and if I closed them in order to 
bring the thumb and fingers together for the purpose 
of snapping them, she was off. It rather pleased me 
to have her so attentive and observant, until I sud- 
denly thought that if I were out in the field with her 
and wanted to stop her fifty or one hundred yards 
away, it would be rather inconvenient to have to hold 
up my hand as long as I wanted to keep her stand- 
ing. So 1 had some of my work to do over again. 
I began as before, except that instead of holding my 
hand I merely raised it, held it for an instant and then 
lowered it. If she started she was instantly checked, 
and in a few lessons learned that lowering the hand 
was not necessarily a signal for her to come on. 

These lessons took about three weeks, and if a dog 
is contrary or does not show a special aptitude for 
learning, it will take even longer than this to do it 
perfectly. Of course I speak now of those who have 
business to attend to and cannot give all their time 
to training a dog or dogs. When I had Chic so that 
she would stop instantly at the command, go on at 
command, and go either fast or slowly, stand at 
"toho" without moving a muscle, I considered the les- 
son learned. In order that she should forget none of 
it, however, she was daily put through all she had 



CHIC AND I 31 

learned before. The importiiiice of this lesson In 
"toho" will be clearly seen in the trips afield which it 
will hereafter be my pleasure to describe. The word 
"toho" is pronounced by some with the accent on the 
first syllable. I use it without any particular accent on 
either syllable and with the last syllable slightly pro- 
longed. In connection with these lessons I had taught 
her to come to me at a beckon of the hand, w^hich was 
very easily done by simply beckoning every time I 
said "come." Coming to "toho" at the raising of the 
hand is also a very important matter, as will be seen 
later on when we come to training to the w'histle, 
and one cannot be too particular to have this lesson 
absolutely perfectly learned. Pet dogs are sometimes 
taught to let a piece of meat alone at the word 
"poison," or to pick it up at the words "good meat." 
This can be done by using these words in the place 
of "toho" and the cluck. 



CHAPTER IV 

Heel and Retrieve, 

One of the most important lessons in training, and 
a lesson to be carefully given and thoroughly learned, 
is to teach the dog to come to heel promptly, will- 
ingly and cheerfully when ordered. It is, perliaps, 
next in importance to toho, for upon these two les- 
sons depends the absolute control of the dog by his 
master. The importance of being able to bring the 
dog in to heel and keep him there will be at once thor- 
oughly appreciated by anyone who has endeavored 
to take his dog through the crowded streets of a 
strange city. Everything is new and interesting to 
the dog; he is continually tempted to stray away from 
his master to investigate sounds and appearances with 
which he has never before come in contact. Strange 
dogs are constantly seeking his acquaintance and en- 
deavoring to draw him away. The surging stream of 
traffic, the bewildering number of horses and con- 
veyances of all kinds, the foot passengers treading in 
dangerous proximity to his toes, all tend to distract 
him and cause him to forget for the moment his 
fealty to his master. What pleasure it is in such an 
instance to be able to move rapidly along, knowing 
that your dog is safe at your side and that nothing 
will tempt him to leave it! Also, when in the field 
and attempting to crawl up on a flock of ducks or 
geese, and you must have your dog with you, how 
much it adds to the prospect to know that you need 
have no fear of your dog running out ahead of you 
or in any other manner frightening the game, and to 



CHIC AND I 83 

know that he will be ready for duty close to your side, 
when called upon! Fully appreciating the advantages 
of these and many other instances where this lesson 
would come in play, I proceeded cautiously with 
Chic's lessons in coming to heel. Thanks to her pre- 
vious learning, however, she was now so far advanced 
that she picked up anything I chose to teach her very 
readily. 

After preparing her supper one evening in full view 
of her eager eyes, I took it out on the back porch, 
and to her great astonishment and chagrin left her 
behind. When I returned she was sitting in the mid- 
dle of the floor with her head turned slightly to one 
side, her ears pricked up and her whole expression 
one of surprise and incredulity. Snapping the cord 
to her collar I opened the door and said "come." She 
came with a jump, of course, but when she had got 
a few feet in front of me I tightened up on the cord 
and drew her back to my side, at the same time say- 
ing quietly "heel." Of course she did not know what all 
that meant, but by this time she was wise enough to 
know that all that preparation meant something, and 
after one or two attempts to go ahead she walked 
quietly along at my side. I walked directly out to 
where her supper was ready, and when she saw that 
she made another slight attempt to get at it, but I 
held her firmly by the cord and repeated the com- 
mand. When she became quiet again I loosed the 
cord and clucked to her, as the signal that she might 
have the food. This lesson was repeated only at sup- 
per time for three or four days, and by that time she 
had learned to go quietly along at my side whenever 
she received the command to heel. Then I took her 
out of doors and had the cord in my pocket ready for 
use, but to my intense gratification I found it was not 
necessary. She remained at heel perfectly. 

I forgot to say that the command was always ac- 
companied with a motion of the hand made by ex- 
tending the arm downward at full length, the palm 



34 CHIC AND I 

of the hand backward, and a motion of the hand back- 
ward. 

Like the other lessons this lesson was gradually 
extended, that is the time of keeping her at heel was 
gradually extended, until she learned the lesson so 
thoroughly that she would not think of leaving until 
she was given permission, either by the command 
to "go on" or by clucking. Neither did it take long 
for her to recognize the motion of the hand, and when 
I thought she had it sufficiently learned I got into a 
buggy and took her out for a run. When out of the 
city I called to her to heel. At first she did not seem 
to understand, but when she caught sight of the mo- 
tion she came immediately in and ran contentedly 
under the buggy. She learned this lesson easier and 
more quickly than any other, and I have many times 
had reason to congratulate myself on having her obey 
the command so readily and cheerfully. If your dog is 
not a good fighter this command will save him many 
a trouncing when you are passing the house of some 
farmer, whose shepherd dog is more quarrelsome than 
hospitable. 

I have seen this command taught by simply put- 
ting on the cord and then taking a little switch and 
going out with the dog for a walk, and every time the 
dog attempted to run out in front switch him lightly 
on the nose. This way, however, while effective, has 
a tendency to cow the dog. He associates the com- 
mand with the whip and when ordered to come in 
will come in a cringing manner, as though he ex- 
pected a whipping. 

Many trainers do not teach their dogs to retrieve. 
They give many and various reasons for this, but I 
believe that the chief one is that the dog will soon 
learn to love retrieving so much that the instant a 
bird falls he will want to rush forward to retrieve 
it, and also that his love for retrieving will interfere 
with his desire to find birds and point them. I do 
not think that there is anything in either objection. 



• CHIC AND I . 35 

As to the first I am satisfied that a dog properly 
trained will never break shot, as rushing after a dead 
or crippled bird without waiting for the command is 
called. As to the second, if a dog is a thoroughly good 
dog and hunts from the love of it and points naturally, 
I do not believe that any added educational accom- 
l)lisliment, such as retrieving, will in any manner de- 
tract from his good work in other respects. However 
that may be if a man only has one dog, can perhaps 
only afford one dog, and wants him to be a good 
"all-round" dog, he wants him to retrieve. In teach- 
ing this accomplishment a diversity of means may 
be employed. Many dogs are natural retrievers, so 
called, and need scarcely any teaching. Many dogs 
are taught to retrieve by playing with them, throwing 
a ball or a stick for them to bring. The trouble with 
dogs taught in this way is that nearly all of them will 
retrieve as long as they feel like it, and when they 
tire of it they will go and lie down. And why 
shouldn't they? If they are taught to bring things as 
a matter of sport merely, why shouldn't they refuse 
to bring them when it ceases to be sport any longer? 

I never allowed Chic to think that the lessons were 
given in sport or pla3^ The times of play were an- 
other matter, but when the time of the lesson arrived 
she soon learned that it meant business, and that 
she must attend strictly to it. First I took a ball of 
twine, a handkerchief or rag tied up in a knot will 
do just as well, and calling Chic up to me I turned her 
head from me and bade her "sit!" At the same time 
I put my hand on her haunches and gently pressed 
them down until she came to a sitting position. Then 
I opened her mouth and gently inserted the ball, be- 
ing careful not to hurt her lips. Then grasping her 
muzzle just enough to keep her from dropping the 
ball, but still being very careful not to hold it tight 
enough to hurt her, I said quietly: "Hold it!" Hav- 
ing held it for an instant I said: "Drop it!" and in- 
stantly let go of her mouth and held my hand to catch 



36 CHIC AND I • 

the ball. This was really three lessons in one, namely: 
"Sit," "Hold it" and "Drop it." If done carefully and 
kindly I think these three lessons can be given to- 
gether in the manner stated above and a great deal of 
time saved thereby. These lessons, as in all the pre- 
ceding ones, were repeated day after day, and often 
several times a day, and the time of the lesson gradu- 
ally lengthened. When she would sit for ten minutes 
and hold the ball and not drop it for any manner of 
coaxing, or for any meat or other food placed tantaliz- 
ingly before her until she received the command to 
drop it, I considered her ready for the next step. This 
was to "pick it up." 

I took the same ball, to which she had now become 
accustomed, and tied a little piece of meat to it. I 
had another piece of meat ready in my hand. I then 
threw the ball across the room, after first letting her 
smell of the meat, and made her draw on it as in the 
manner shown in the lesson on toho! When ready to 
have her pick it up I clucked to her as in the toho lesson 
and at the same time said sharply: "Pick it up!" 
The instant she had it in her mouth I exclaimed: 
"Toho! Hold it!" True to her former lessons the lit- 
tle beauty stood as if transfixed, and made no effort 
to eat the meat. I then walked over to her, gave the 
command to sit, and then to drop it, and immediately 
gave her the extra piece of meat, which she received 
with every indication of grateful surprise. Only a few 
lessons of this kind were necessary before the cluck 
was dispensed with and she picked up the ball readily 
at the command. The piece of meat was then re- 
moved from the ball and she picked it up as readily 
as though the meat were still there. 

The next and last step was very simple and very 
readily learned. Throwing the ball across the room 
as before I sent her on, and when she had the ball 
in her mouth, instead of walking over to her and 
taking it from her, I said: "Fetch! Come!" She 
knew what come meant; she knew she must not drop 



CHIC AND I 37 

that ball imtil told to, and so, of course, she brought 
it. When at my feet I said "sit," and she instantlj' 
turned around and sat at my feet and looked up at 
me with her soft, intelligent eyes. Then slowly put- 
ting down my hand to take it I said "drop it" and she 
dropped it into the hand, and immediately received the 
piece of meat which she knew was awaiting her. The 
lesson was at last completed; only practice remained, 
and she got plenty of that. 

Day after day it was kept up, the word "come" in 
connection with "fetch" being soon dispensed with. 
Then the ball was changed for something else. She 
was never allowed to chew the article, and after the 
first two or three attempts to get the meat that was 
fastened to the ball, she did not attempt it. When I 
tried something else instead of the ball it made no 
difference; she worked just as well with a slipper 
or an old rubber as she did with the ball. Then I 
began to teach her to distinguish between different 
articles. Using a slipper for some time I would tell 
her to bring the slipper, emphasizing the word "slip- 
per." Then a glove was placed on the floor beside 
the slipper, and if she made a mistake and brought 
the glove I would say: "Take it back," at the same 
time pointing to where the slipper still lay. She 
would go slowly back with it, and when there I 
would command her to drop it, and then repeat the 
command to bring the slipper. When this was thor- 
oughly learned I discarded the slipper and used the 
glove alone until she was accustomed to that. Then 
the two were placed together again, and she was thus 
taught to distinguish between them. Then a hat was 
added— needless to say an old, soft hat. This might 
have been kept up until she would distinguish al- 
most anything of common use, I suppose, but it takes 
lots of time and patience and I soon stopped. I should 
say that this was done in spare moments and was not 
considered as an essential part of her education. 

Having taught her to retrieve at command in the 



38 CHIC AND I 

room she was taken outside. I had no trouble with 
her here, and, indeed, had expected none. She did 
as well as in the room. 

The next step was to retrieve from water. She had 
always been fond of the water, going into it of her 
own accord and splashing around with great delight, 
although she did not go beyond her depth. I took 
great care not to do anything to cause her to fear it 
either, such as throwing her in, throwing water on 
her, or anything of that sort. Going out with her one 
day to the edge of a pond I began to throw sticks for 
her to bring to me. At each throw I sent them a lit- 
tle nearer the edge of the pond, and on about the third 
throw I sent the stick just into the water far enough 
to cause her to wet her feet in getting it. She stepped 
in rather gingerly but brought it. Noticing her hesita- 
tion I did not throw it any farther that day, but con- 
tented myself with repeating it two or three times. 
The next day I began where I left off the day before, 
and after throwing it two or three times so that she 
would get her feet wet, I threw it a little farther out. 
This w^as kept up until she went as far out as she 
could without swimming, which 1 considered enough. 
The next day the same thing was repeated, and when 
she went that far without hesitation I threw the stick far 
enough so she would have to swim for it. I calculated 
it very nicely though and threw it just far enough 
so she could almost reach it but not quite. Up to this 
time I had not given a command, but now she waded 
out just as far as she could, reached unavailingly two 
or three times and then turned around and looked 
at me. I instantly motioned her on and said: "Go 
on." There was no more hesitation, but she at once 
turned around, made a leap for the stick, which car- 
ried her considerably beyond her depth, and turned 
and brought the stick in. She was caressed and 
praised and given a piece of a cracker which she did 
not know I had in my pocket I sent her out once 
more that day, but as she was plainly a trifle timid 



OHIO AND I ^9 

I did not ask for any more. Indeed, I was more than 
delighted with the results already so easily attained. 
This was kept up as in the other lessons, and in a 
very few days after that she would unhesitatingly 
go and bring the stick as far as I could throw it. In- 
deed, she liked it and would run down to a pond 
when we chanced to pass one and look up at me with 
a grin and a wag of her tail, plainly asking me to 
throw in a stick for her. Then I would throw in a 
stick, and when she was half way back with it I 
would call to her to drop it and throw in another, and 
send her back after that. If you have two ducks down 
and your dog goes out to retrieve and gets the dead 
one, isn't it nice to be able to make him drop it and 
turn around and go after the cripple that is getting 
into the weeds as fast as it can? I think so, and 
so I taught Chic in this way to drop the stick in- 
stantly and watch the motion of my hand for her 
command what to do. It was easily done after her 
other lessons. By placing little pieces of meat in dif- 
ferent parts of the room and saying: "Find it," I 
had taught Chic what that meant. I now procured a 
quail. I do not remember whether I got it from some 
of the boys who had been out or whether I shot it my- 
self, but inasmuch as it was the open season it does 
not make any difference. Placing the quail where it 
would not be in plain sight, and yet would not be 
too difficult to find I said: "Dead bird! Find it!" She 
knew what "find it" meant and immediately started 
to hunt. Coming unexpectedly on the scent of the 
dead bird she stiffened into a gamy point, but almost 
immediately her tail began to droop, showing that 
she recognized the fact that the bird was not alive. 
"Pick it up" I commanded. She hesitated a barely 
perceptible moment and then very gingerly took the 
bird in her mouth. "Fetch" said I, and she promptly 
brought the bird to me, and without further com- 
mand sat down in front of me and handed me the 
bird, but with a plainly astonished and quizzical ex- 



40 CHIG AND I 

pression. Having given me the bird slie backed away 
a few feet and then sat down and looked at me with 
her ears pricked up, the very personification of a mute, 
but living, interrogation point. She evidently didn't 
understand how that dead bird got there. I stroked 
the feathers of the pretty victim and talked quietly 
to Chic about it, and then laid it away, and with a 
few words of approbation gave Chic a piece of 
cracker. When she was not looking 1 hid the bird 
again and repeated the performance as before. My 
object was twofold. I wanted her to understand 
what "dead bird" meant, and I wanted to accustom 
her to the appearance and scent of a dead bird before 
I took her into the field. Inasmuch as the bird M'ould 
not last very long I gave her several lessons per day 
during the three or four days that I could keep the 
bird, and then I cut off its wings and sewed them 
together and threw the body away. The wings lastetl 
a long time and served the purpose nearly as well 
as the whole carcass would have done. When they 
got too dry I moistened them with a little water. 

In this way the lessons proceeded imtil Chic per- 
fectly understood the meaning of the words "dead 
bird," and she always enjoyed these lessons, watching 
me take the wings down from the shelf with the 
greatest interest, and when I took them into the next 
room to hide them she displayed the greatest impa- 
tience, on my return, to be given the word to hunt 
them up. I never deceived her, or fooled her. When- 
ever I said "dead bird" the scent of the dead bird was 
there and guided her. She knew exactly what she 
was looking for, and neither gloves, slippers, nor any 
of her old playthings could distract her from the 
search. To her credit be it said, too, that she never 
failed to find them, no matter in what unlikely places 
they were stowed away. It was amusing to see her 
nose around places where she had found them at some 
previous time in the vain hope that she might find 
them there again. 



CHIC AND I 41 

To say that I was satisfied with the progress my 
little pupil had thus far made but faintly expresses it. 
I was delighted with her intelligence and willing 
obedience, and surprised at the facihty with whicl', 
she learned her later lessons. At the risk of repeti- 
tion I will say that if the first lessons are carefully, 
kindly and tliorougldy inculcated the facility with 
which the dog will ac(iuire its future knowledge will 
be a constant source of surprise and gratification, 11', 
liowever, the first lessons are taught in an unkind and 
rough manner so that the dog loses confidence in 
his instructor, or if they are carelessly impressed and 
insufficiently learned so that the dog gets the idea that 
it is of no particular importance whether he does his 
work well or not, then the process of training will 
be one long protracted siege of disappointment and 
discomfort for his trainer, and probably, poor fellow, 
one dreary stage of punishment for himself. Each 
lesson will be a trial to both master and pupil, filling 
the former with disgust, and the latter with fear 
and pain. Let but the foundation be laid in kindness 
and affection, the superstructure built with thorough- 
ness and care and the results must be a source of 
pleasure to the dog and of content and gratification 
to his master as long as his loved and loving pet 
shall live to tramp with him the fields and forests, 
or watch beside the laughing stream from wliich anon 
his dear master, with rod and line, brings flashing tliH 
beautiful trout. 



CHAPTER V 

Outdoor Lessons. 

Chic's lessons heretofore had been confined almost 
exclusively to my office. There she was accustomed 
to everything, and there was nothing to attract her 
attention or divert her from the business on hand. 
The principal lesson had been given in the evening, 
just before her evening meal, for the reason that that 
was the principal meal of the day, and for the fur- 
ther reason that we were less liable to interruption 
at that hour. The time had now arrived, however, 
when we must go out of doors, for the working to 
whistle, quartering, etc., could not be well taught 
indoors. 

Rising about half past five in the morning I took 
her out for a walk in the park. San Diego's park is 
no insignificant affair, being a body of 1,400 acres in 
one piece and almost wholly unimproved with the 
exception of a boulevard around it. Here was native 
sage brush, grease brush, hill and valley, canon and 
mesa, in all their virgin dreariness, and the initiated 
knew where to look for two or three bands of 
quails. Striking out early in the morning I would 
walk up to the park, about half a mile, Chic running 
whither she listed on the way. Arrived there 1 
waited until she crossed in front of me about thirty 
yards away and gave a short, shrill blast on the 
whistle. It was an unusual sound and she immedi- 
ately looked around to see what caused it. Instantly 
I raised my hand in the signal for "toho" and she 
came to a stop. Walking up to her I stroked her head 



CHIC AND I 43 

once or twice and sent her on again. This was re- 
peated several times in the course of our walk, and 
before we went back to town she had her lesson 
learned, and at the sound of the whistle would stop 
instantly and wait for further orders. The next les- 
son was to heel at the sound of the whistle. Wait- 
ing, as before, until she should be at a proper dis- 
tance, that is, within the sound of my voice in case 
it should be necessary to speak to her, I brought her 
to "toho" with the whistle. When she looked around 
I gave a long blast of the whistle with a trill, pro- 
duced with the tongue, and at the same time beck- 
oned to her to come. She recognized the motion 
at once and came bounding to ward. me. When within 
a few yards of me I motioned her to heel, at the 
same time saying "heel!" She fell quietly in to heel 
and trotted along as unconcernedly as though she 
had always done it. Keeping her at heel for a little 
way I motioned her to go on, at the same time giving 
two short, sharp blasts on the whistle. This was all 
there was to the lesson. It only remained to be re- 
peated until she should associate the long blast with 
the trill with the command to heel, and the two short 
blasts with the command to go on. I found, however, 
that it required a little more time to perfect her in 
these maneuvers than in the office lessons, for the 
reason that when she was out in the field running 
and enjoying herself she was somewhat more loth 
to mind than when alone with me in the office and 
nothing else to do but to attend to her lesson. 

In all these walks I had a few pieces of cracker or 
scraps of meat in my pocket with which she was 
occasionally rewarded when she did well. 

At last came the trial that I had longed for. She 
was industriously hunting back and forth in front of 
me one morning when, just a few yards in front of 
her nose, out burst a rabbit. In less time than it takes 
to read these lines Chic was covering the ground at a 
pace that bade fair to make the rabbit "hump himself" 



44 



CHIC AND I 



for a short distance, but the whistle was in my hand 
and before she had gone five yards its imperious com- 
mand to "toho" reached her ears. You who have 
never trained a puppy of your own and spent hours 
of patient time and care in the labor cannot appre- 
ciate the thrill of gratification with which I saw 
her plant all four feet in front of her, like a balky 
horse, and stop so suddenly that she actually slid 
a few inches on her feet before halting. There she 




CHIC AND I— THERE SHE STOOD TREMBLINC4 IN EVERY 
LIMB. 

stood, trembling in every limb, every muscle strained, 
her head erect and watching the bobbing form of the 
fleeing game. Oh, she was a picture to delight an 
owner! Soon the rabbit was out of sight and then 
she turned her head toward me with a reproachful 
look, plainly intimating that if it had not been for 
me that rabbit had been her meat. I whistled her in 
to heel, but it was a question whether to punish her a 
little for chasing the rabbit and thus try to teach her 
that that was wrong, or to praise her for minding so 
well. In this quandary I did neither, but after keep- 



CHIC AND I 45 

ing her at heel a few minutes I sent her out again. 
Here is the first instance of the use of the word "toho" 
and of the whistle in connection with it. If it had not 
been for this how would I have stopped her from 
chasing that rabbit? But the importance of this les- 
son will be made so palpable in future chapters that 
I will not pause to expatiate upon it now. 

Quartering at the motion of the hand was the next 
step. She had already perfectly learned to toho at 
one short blast of the whistle and to go on at two short 
blasts. Sending her on I stopped her when she was 
going directly away from me at about thirty or forty 
yards. When she looked around I turned sharply to 
the right, at the same time motioning in that direction 
and giving, with the whistle, the command to go on. 
From the desire that every dog has to go in the gen- 
eral direction that he sees his master going she im- 
mediately turned and went on in a direction correspond- 
ing wilh my own, that is, almost at a right angle to 
the direction in which we had been going. After a 
short walk in this direction I again stopped her and 
then, with a motion to the left, I started off in that 
direction, at the same time giving her, as before, the 
signal with the whistle to go on. This was kept up 
for several mornings and when I thought she under- 
stood the motion I tried it without turning and going 
in that direction myself. That is, after stopping her, 
I motioned to the right and whistled her on, but did 
not turn to the right myself. She immediately started 
off to the right, but casting her eyes toward me saw 
that I was not going in that direction and so changed 
her course for straight ahead again. She was imme- 
diately stopped with the whistle and again motioned 
to the right and I walked a few paces in that direction 
myself and then turned and went straight ahead again. 
She then went on about forty yards in that direction 
and turned and came back, crossing my path about 
forty yards ahead of me and going toward my left. 
As she crossed she looked toward me and I motioned 



46 OHIO AND I 

her toward the left, the direction in which she was 
going, and she kept straight on. When she had gone 
about forty yards in that direction I whistled again, 
but this time not with my metal whistle, but through 
my teeth. I had about exhausted the various possi- 
bilities of the metal whistle and now resorted to one 
of nature's furnishing for my final signal. The whistle, 
being new and unexpected, had the desired result; she 
merely looked around but did not stop. When she 
looked, however, I motioned toward the right. She 
did not immediately comprehend and was brought up 
instantly with a round turn by the "toho!" Then, 
giving her the command with the whistle to go on, I 
again motioned to the right, and this time she went 
away perfectly. 

Day after day I went with her in the early morning 
to the park and repeated these lessons until she had 
learned them perfectly and I could work her by vocal 
commands if within hearing, by whistle or m«tioii of 
the hand if without the sound of the voice. "What 
nonsense," says someone. "What an endless labor," 
says another. Not nonsense, my friend, nor endless 
labor either. My labors with Chic ended long ago and 
she is still my hunting chum and daily companion, and 
it would do you good to go out with me some time and 
have Chic in the buggy. Then when we came to the 
mouth of some likely caiion, or some little draw with 
a clump of bushes at the farther end and a wheat 
stubble just beyond, I would say: "Go up in there, 
Chic," accompanied by a snap of the finger and a 
motion of the hand. When you saw her leap from the 
buggy and quickly hunt out every likely corner of the 
draw and then either come back to the buggy or stop 
at the other end of the draw waiting for orders, or, if 
perchance there were birds there, see her work cau- 
tiously up to them and then hold them while we put our 
guns together and went to her, you would quickly 
change your mind and say that the result is fully 
worth all the trouble. 



CHIC AND I 47 

One lesson more remained before my pupil would 
be ready to go afield with me. She must stop at the 
sound of the gun. This was readily learned by pur- 
suing the same tactics as used in teaching her to stop 
at the sound of the whistle. Chic was never gunshy. 
Perhaps she might have been if I had taken her out 
hunting the first thing and shot four drams of black 
powder over her head. I did not do that. I bought 
some firecrackers instead. Going out oni the back 
porch I shot off a firecracker and then gave her a 
piece of soda cracker. A judicious combination of 
these two kinds of crackers will, I believe, prevent 
gunshyness, and that is a great deal better than to 
take chances on having to cure it after a while. When 
she became accustomed to the firecrackers I took a 
small pistol, a .22-short, and fired that off in connection 
with the edible crackers. So when I came to teach her 
to "toho" at the sound of the gun I had no gunshyness 
to contend with, I took a .44 Colt's with me and send- 
ing Chic on I fired it off when she was only a few paces 
in front of me. She stopped in surprise and looked 
around to see what made the noise, when I quietly said 
"toho." Repeating this a few times I sent her on and 
when she was about forty yards away and running 
across so that she could look toward me without stop- 
ping, I fired again. As she looked around at the re- 
port I raised my hand in the signal for "toho" and she 
immediately stopped. As in teaching her to "toho" at 
the sound of the whistle, all that remained now was a 
little practice and it was not long before she learned 
to associate the sound of the gun with the command 
"toho" and would immediately stop. 

"What good is all this?" asks some impatient reader. 
Did you ever have a dog addicted to that accursed 
habit of breaking shot? Did you ever have one that 
would, in spite of all you could do, break in and chase? 
Did you ever see one? Then tell me how is it possible 
for a dog trained as I have described to acquire either 



48 OHIO AND I 

of these most detestable habits? If your dog is taught 
to stop immediately at the report of the gun, no matter 
Vv'hether he be close to you or far away, he will not 
break in, will he? The proposition is its own answer 
and its eminent practicability and utility render it an 
absolute necessity. It can now be readily understood 
why I placed so much stress on Chic's education in 
the one matter of toho. It can now be seen how that 
one lesson runs through and has its bearing on all sub- 
sequent lessons and how vei^ important it is that the 
lesson of toho should be so thoroughly learned that the 
pupil is absolutely perfect in it. All lessons require 
care, patience and kindness on the part of the master; 
some will be learned more readily than others, but let 
the lesson in "toho" be absolutely perfect and not a 
great deal of trouble can be experienced with the 
others, and generally the pupil will pick up the other 
lessons so rapidly as to surprise and delight the ama- 
teur trainer. 

I cannot do better in closing this chapter, which 
finishes Chic's preliminary education, or what is usually 
called "yard breaking," than to give an extract from 
S, T. Hammond's little w^ork on "Training vs. Break- 
ing." In the few preceding chapters I have not pre- 
tended to give in its entirety a treatise on the training 
of dogs. I have only attempted to describe the method 
I employed with my own dog and that it was entirely 
successful can be attested by many who have been 
in the field with Chic and me. "In all our lessons we 
have endeavored to impress upon the reader the im- 
portance of carefully studying the disposition of the 
pupil in order that he might intelligently apply their 
teachings. We have also tried to show the paramount 
necessity of a very cautious advance at each successive 
step. Yet so very important a matter do we deem this 
that we cannot forbear again calling your attention 
to it, and again cautioning you to use the utmost care 
in all your lessons and to so manage that your dog 
shall not become over-trained, for this, although quite 



CHIC AND I 49 

common, is a very serious fault and one that will 
require a long time to overcome, if, indeed, you can 
ever quite eradicate it; and in order to secure that 
cheerful, willing obedience that is so desirable, it will 
be far better that yo\i should devote plenty of time to 
the proper development of your pupil, rather than by 
undue haste to bring him out only partially trained 
or cowed or disheartened by a too close or too long 
continued drilling at tasks that should be his delight 
instead of dread. In perfecting your pupil in his work 
in the field, great care must be taken that he always 
performs his work in a faultless manner, and no 
thought of present enjoyment should induce you to, 
for an instant, relax that constant surveillance and 
watchful care that you have bestowed upon him while 
practicing him at home. There is no more proliflc 
cause of the unsteadiness and disobedience exhibited 
by so many of the dogs we meet than the overlooking 
of the little faults that scarcely appear worth noticing. 
As we have before remarked, anything that is worth 
doing is worth doing well, and in nothing is this more 
apparent than in the educatiom of your dog. We 
don't mean by this that you should be constantly 
nagging him and breaking his spirit with an incessant 
repetition of commands, but that when you do give an 
order you should see to it that it is at once obeyea, 
and to the very letter." 



CHAPTER VI 

Distemper, 

The time had hoay arrived to give Chic her initijition 
in the actual work and sport of bird hunting. I had 
received her in September; her yard breaking had 
occupied about four months and she was now, in the 
latter part of January, about eight months old. The 
season on quails in California did not then close until 
the first of March, so I had a little over a month in 
which to initiate her into the beauties of the sport. 
The beautiful climate of Southern California renders 
hunting delightful in almost any month of the year, 
and especially so in the Winter months. It is true that 
the best time to start a young dog in the field is in the 
Fall, when he can work on young birds and when the 
older birds are not so wild; but with a dog that is 
carefully and thoroughly yard broken and that has 
the true hunting spirit the time of the year is not of th? 
greatest importance. I had anticipated no little sport 
and interest in watching Chic work her first birds, but 
my hopes and desires were doomed to postponement 
and came near to being defeated forever. I had 
planned to go out on a Saturday, when about the Tues- 
day preceding I noticed that Chic did not have much 
appetite and seemed listless and nerveless. She didn't 
care for play; did not want to eat; mouthed her food 
and only ate a few of the daintier bits. I must confess 
that I was a little careless in the matter and did not 
begin to treat her for the trouble as soon as I should. 
About the third day I noticed some matter at the 
corners of her eyes and the next morning I found her 
eyes nearly closed with a yellowish matter. Her nose 



CHIC AND I 51 

was hot and dry, and she now almost entirely refused 
food. Then I knew that something was wrong and 
began to take steps to remedy it. For three days I 
gave her three grains of quinine three times a day. 
The quinine was given in capsules and was adminis- 
tered without a particle of trouble, but I could see no 
improvement. I then changed her quarters, putting 
her in her corner in the closet opening off the oflSce. 
I had a little gas stove and attached a long rubber tube 
to it so I could set the stove in the closet. I kept the 
stove running, but not at full pressure, night and day, 
regulating it so as to keep the temperature always the 
same and keeping it rather warm. I then had a drug- 
gist compound a mixture so that at each dose of a 
dessertpoonful she would get four grains quinine, 
fifteen drops fluid extract eucalyptus, thirty drops 
spirits niter and one drop fluid extract veratrum veride. 
This was administered every four hours. At the same 
time I procured the following prescription: Sulphate 
of zinc twenty grains, fluid extract goldenseal one 
ounce, rosewater three ounces, glycerin one-half 
ounce. I procured a soft small surgeon's sponge and 
cleansed her eyes carefully with warm water as often 
as they needed it, gently drawing the lower lid down 
and getting all the matter out of them, then, with a 
medicine dropper, putting in four or five drops of the 
above mixture. This was done as often as the eyes 
clogged up with matter, which was four or five timea 
daily. Still I could see no improvement, though so far 
she did not get worse. I then got the following: Vin. 
ipecac one dram, sulphate of zinc one-quarter dram. 
This is a very strong emetic, so I took her down in the 
yard to administer it. I gave her fifteen drops of the 
mixture and in a very few minutes she threw up sort 
of a white slime of a ropy consistency. She continued 
to throw up every few minutes, and in a half hour had 
got rid of nearly a hatful of the stuff and appeared 
greatly relieved. She was then taken back to her bed. 
The above treatment, without the emetic, was con- 



52 CHIO AND I 

tinned a couple of days longer, and then the medicine 
was changed and I gave her three grains of quinine in 
capsules every four hours, beginning at nine o'clock 
in the morning. This brought the last dose at nine 
o'clock in the evening and then there was given, in 
addition to the quinine, five grains of bromide of 
potassium. The treatment for the eyes was continued 
as before. I noticed an immediate improvement and 
indications of a return of appetite. She was very 
much emaciated and I thought I was going to lose her. 
She had eaten nothing for a week and now I got some 
extract of beef and made a little beef tea for her. 
She lapped up a little of it and looked gratefully at me. 
I had given her a raw egg every day to support her 
strength. This was given by breaking the egg in a 
cup; her mouth was then held open and her head 
thrown back and the egg poured in, when it would 
slip dow^n without any trouble. She regained her ap- 
petite and strength every day after the administration 
of the emetic, but very slowly at first. I coaxed her 
appetite with the beef tea and after a few days I 
broke a cracker in it. 

This was continued and the food increased as her 
appetite returned, but it was the middle of February 
before she could get around. Then she was very weak 
on her hindlegs and would wobble and totter around 
like a dog with a broken back. She got over this so 
slowly that I began to fear chorea. I thought the best 
thing I could do for her was to let nature have a chance 
to repair some of the damage of the dread disease, 
and so I asked a friend of mine to take her out in the 
country with him. He asked me what he should do 
with her and I told him to give her a box out of doors 
but under cover, out on his porch, wuth a good blanket 
in it; give her a light feed in the morning and all she 
would eat at night of the scraps from the table and, 
for the rest of the time, to let her absolutely alone. 

The last day of the month but one I went out to see 
him and took my gun with me, I had heard ndhins 



CHIU AND I 5a 

f.om him, and di Ir't know wlieJier Cilc was living or 
dead. I got off the train and wallved over to tiis liouse, 
about an eiglitli of a mile. I saw nothing of Chic any- 
where and my heart sank within me. Now my friend 
is an Irishman, but his wife is a German and is a 
whole-souled, big-hearted woman, who is a most ex- 
cellent cook and is as fond of dogs as she is of seeing 
lier guests eat. On seeing me she threw up both hands 
and exclaimed: 

"Veil! Veil! How you vas, anyvay? Dot tog of yours, 
is it, eh? Veil I tought dot vas a sick tog! Sick! 
Humph! He eats more as a dozen togs, but he don't 
get some fat on him at all! I don't see vat is de matter 
mit dot tog. I never see a tog eat so much like him 
unt he stay yust so poor as a rail." 

"What does she do?" 

"Do? Vy she yust gets up in de morning and yust 
goes out for a run mit my tog. My tog he vas a bull 
terrier puppy. Ve call him Bruno. De fust ting Bruno 
dit ven your dog come here, he yust yumiped on your 
tog unt licked him like anytings till I cum running out 
unt pulled him off unt licked him goot. Veil, yesterday 
he tried it again unt Chic he yust turned around unt 
took Bruno py de neck unt shook him till he ki-yi'd 
like anyting, unt den Chic he let go unt Bruno he run 
under de house unt stay dere till I go unt coax him out. 
Ha! ha! It vas goot to see dot Bruno get some af his 
own medicines back again." 

"But where is Chic now?" 

"I don't know. She starts off unt Bruno he runs 
along pehind, unt he so fat he don't can run so fast, 
unt he sticks out his tongue, unt ven Chic she runs 
round, Bruno he yust cuts across unt so he tries to keep 
in sight of Chic. Unt den ven he can't keep up no 
longer he yust yelps and den comes home. Unt bime- 
by Chic he comes home, too. You yust ought to see 
tose togs eat! Unt Chic he runs down to de lake unt 
Bruno he runs down, too, unt Chic he runs right into 
de vater unt Bruno den he yust sits down unt looks at 



54 CHIC AND I 

Chic. Unt you ought to see dem dig out squirrels! 
Dey runs along unt dey sees a squirrel, unt Chic she 
almost catches him, unt yust as she goes to grab him 
down he goes into his hole, unt Bruno he's a long vays 
pehint. Den Chic he yumps into de hole unt yust 
digs so fast as he can. Unt Bruno he comes up unt 
he sticks out his tongue unt lies down. Unt Chic she 
digs unt digs. Den she yumps out unt Bruno he yumps 
quick in unt digs unt Chic he lies down unt stick out 
his tongue. Den yen Bruno he gets tired he yum,p out 
again unt Chic he yump in, unt pretty soon dey gets 
out de squirrel." 

"How far away does she go?" 

"Oh, she goes vay out on dem hills! I seen her one 
day on de top of dot first mountain dere," and she 
pointed to one that must have been four miles from 
where we stood to the top of it. 

I now knew why Chic didn't get fat, and laughed at 
the good woman's anxiety lest I should think she did 
not feed my pet enough. Putting away my gun and 
shooting traps in the room I always used when there, 
I stepped out on the front porch and looked around. 
No dogs in sight anywhere. Then I took my whistle 
and blew the return call as long and loud as I could 
and waited. After a few minutes I blew again and 
suddenly saw burst into view on the brow of a hill a 
half mile away, outlined against the mountains back 
of her, my beautiful pointer. Chic. She stopped and 
looked in every direction but did not see me. I then 
stepped from the porch and walked down to the gate, 
and when she again looked that way I waved my hand 
and beckoned. One more glance and on she came. 
Leaping bushes, bowlders, cactus, ditches, too im- 
patient to go around anything, but came straight to- 
ward me and wanted to leap into my arms, but that 
her teaching forbade. I sat down on the steps and 
took her beautiful head between my hands and petted 
her and talked to her, and I think we were the hap- 
piest couple at La Presa that day. Just then I hear(J 



OHIO AND I 55 

a faint yelp and looking up I saw a gray and white 
brindle object coming over the hill where I had first 
seen Chic. It was Bruno. And the poor little fellow 
was so fagged out when he got there that he laid down 
and looked at me, panting instead of trying to jump 
all over me as puppies always do. I saw them dig 
out ground squirrels in the manner so graphically de- 
scribed by Mrs. C— , the next day. I had never al- 
lowed Chic to jump up or put her paws on me. When 
she first tried it as a puppy I would gently put her 
down again, mildly chiding her. When I found that 
this did no good, I watched her, and when she jumped 
up I caught her forepaws in my hands and then 
stepped, hard enough to hurt, on her hindtoes. A very 
few of these lessons sufficed to teach her that it was 
not "good form" to jump up and put her dirty paws on 
anyone's clothes. Well, I looked her over and she cer- 
tainly was poor. The hide hung loosely on her, the 
ribs showed with unusual prominence, the beautiful 
liver color had faded to a dirty sandy brown, she had 
stone bruises on her feet and limped a little; two toe- 
nails were off and a ha If -healed scratch on one side 
showed where she had recklessly encountered a thorn 
or barbed wire. But she was health}-. There was no 
trace of distemper, chorea, sore eyes or any other sick- 
ness about her. I shut Bruno up in the kitchen for 
a while and took Chic out by herself and put her 
through her paces. She had forgotten nothing. She 
would toho, charge, lieel, retrieve, go on, quarter, work 
to the motion of the hand or to the whistle as well as 
ever. It was drawing toward five o'clock and I heard 
the whistle of a cock quail over on the hills. It 
thrilled me through and through, and I said to Chic: 

"Come, puppy, let's go and get one or two of those 
fellows for breakfast." 



CHAPTER VII 

First Outing. 

Chic merely cocked her head on one side and looked 
inquisitively at me when I suggested that we go and 
get a few of those birds for breakfast, but when I went 
into the house and began to put the gun together she 
geemed to know that something was afoot and watched 
every movement with intense interest. When I took 
out the old skeleton shooting coat that had seen lots of 
service and was redolent Avith the smell of game, I let 
her smell of it. She took two or three good, long 
whiffs, and then backed away a few paces and sat 
down with her great eyes wide open, lifting her fore- 
feet occasionally and displaying every sign of im- 
patience. I proceeded slowly, putting shells in my 
pockets, arranging the whistle where I could get at it 
handily, and when all was completed I said: 

"Want to go hunting, Chic?" 

Every time I went hunting after this I used the same 
words, and at no other time, and she soon learned to 
dance around and talk as plainly as I could desire, 
expressing her eagerness for the sport. On this par- 
ticular occasion she merely looked and learned. When 
everything was ready, I left the house and she im- 
mediately started out on a wild run, for nowhere in 
particular. This was not according to program, so I 
whistled her in to heel. She came in readily enough 
but plainly showed that it Avas irksome to her. We 
had gone but a short distance when I gent her out. 
Away she went, ranging far and wide and fast. Again 
I checked her, and bringing her closer in sent her on 



CHIC AND I 5t 

toward a little clump of sagebrush. Going across wiud 
slie suddenly wheeled and roaded up toward the 
bushes. Slower and slower she Avent until she came to 
a rigid point. Ah. how delighted 1 was! How beautiful 
she looked standing there with her foot raised while a 
straight-edge could have been laid from the tip of her 
quivering, sensitive nose to the tip of her tail! I stood 
for a moment admiring her, when suddenly there was 
a swish, a zip, and then the whir of a hundred birds 
as a little gray, brindled object darted into them and 
then, barking wildly, essayed to catch one of the flying 
beauties. It was Bruno. He had not seen us go out but 
had noticed our departure when we were some distance 
away and had arrived just in time to take part in the 
sport— and spoil mine. Chic gave one glance at me 
and then started to show Bruno how to run, evidently 
firmly believing that she could catch one of those 
birds and well knowing that Bruno could not. "Toho!" 
rang out sharp and clear, and she stopped as if struck 
by lightning. Then the dog whip was unsnapped 
from my shooting coat and as unlucky Bruno came 
back from his short run after the quail he received a 
couple of good cuts from the rawhide. This was suf- 
ficient to send him back toward the house ki-yi-ing 
and also sensed as a warning to Chic as to what she 
would get if she ever conducted herself in that manner. 

"Here, there! What are you doing to my dog? I 
want to make a bird dog out of him!" 

I looked up and saAv my friend and host, Tom, coming 
up from the lake where he had been at work, with a 
grin on his face. He had seen the whole performance 
and knowing the pains I had been at to teach Chic, 
was enjoying my discomfiture. 

"How are you, Tom?" said I, as we shook hands. 
"What have you been doing?" 

"Down at the lake working for the company. When 
did you come out?" 

"On the 3:30. Yoii've been taking pretty good care of 



58 CHIC AND I 

Ohic. I don't see any signs of distemper about her 
now." 

"I liaven't taken any care of lier at all. Just did as 
you told me to— fed her and let her alone. She's got the 
making of a great dog, though. I never saw a dog 
that could run with her and stay as long. She'll run 
all day. Poor little Bruno It's amusing to see him try 
to keep up with her." 

"What has she been domg all the time?" I asked. 

"Chasing rabbits most of the time, I guess," said Tom, 
as he laughed at the look of consternation that over- 
spread my face. 

"Chasing rabbits!" I echoed. "Couldn't you stop 
her?" 

"I didn't try. You told me to let her alone and I did 
so. I couldn't have stopped her without tying her up, 
anyhow, and I knew it was the exercise you wanted 
her to get." 

"Well, I've got a job, then," said I, with a sigh. 

"Look at her, now," said Tom. "What is she stand- 
ing there for?" 

I looked, and there was Chic standing in the same 
position that she was in when she stopped at the com- 
mand of toho. She had ceased looking for the birds, 
which had flown over the brow of a hill, but was stand- 
ing there waiting for the next orders. I called her in 
and we stood and talked a few minutes longer and 
then Tom shouldered his rake and started for the house 
saying, over his shoulder, "We'll have supper about 
seven o'clock." 

I had not marked the birds very well and knew that 
they would now be quite a ways from where they had 
alighted, for the California quail is quite a runner, so 
we started on in the general direction that they had 
taken. When Tom had come up Bruno had run back to 
us, secure in his master's protection, but he kept his 
master between him and me all the time, and kept his 
eye on my whip, for which he had evidently conceived 
a sudden and wholesome respect. Now he was running 



CHIC AND I 59 

back to the house at Tom's heels although he east 
wistful glances at Chic every once in a while. 

After going a little way I sent Chic on again. It did 
me good to see that puppy work. She ranged away 
and backward and forward like an old dog. To be 
sure I had to direct her with the whistle. If she was 
going too far away from me to the right or left, she was 
checked by the whistle and turned the other way with 
a motion of the hand. She had not forgotten any of 
her training, and at the whistle through my teeth in- 
stead of the metal whistle, she would turn instantly 
and quarter back. Suddenly she wheeled into a beau- 
tiful point. Her feet spread apart, her tail stiff as 
iron and her nose pointing back and to the left. It was 
an awkward position but it made my heart throb with 
pride. I walked up slowly and cautioned her with a 
low spoken "toho!" although I do not now believe it was 
at all necessary. Taking a good grip on my gun I de- 
termined that Chic should now see what the gun was 
for, and, as she had done her part so well, I determined 
to show her that I could also do mine upon occasion. 
Walking up slowly I passed in front of her, when out 
from under my feet burst a meadowlark. What should 
I do now? During our rambles in the park I had 
neither petted nor praised her when she pointed a lark. 
I had pursued the same tactics whenever she pointed 
a tame chicken. I was fearful that if I should praise 
her for it she would acquire the habit of pointing larks 
and tame chickens and sparrows and everything else 
that she came across. On the other hand if I cor- 
rected her I was afraid she would think it was wrong 
to point and would so come to refuse to do it altogether. 
I thought it was now time that she quit pointing larks, 
but still thought it not best to chide her for it until after 
she had had more work on game birds to see if she 
would not then quit it of her own accord. Whenever 
I had had occasion to punish Chic for anything I had 
said to her "Shame on you." From this she had 
learned that these were not words of commendation 



60 CHIC AND I 

and praise, but (luite the reverse, and they many a 
time answered the purpose of a whipping. 

Wlien tlie lark got up I knew by the general relaxa- 
tion in all of Chic's muscles, and from her dropping 
the point, that she had been holding the lark. I merely 
said "Shame on you" and walked on. She dropped lier 
ears and looked quite crestfallen, but when I clucked 
to her to go on she went away as meiTily as ever. By 
this time we had got over the brow of the hill over 
which the birds had disappeared, and I looked the 
situation over. I found in front of me quite a wide 
and deep canon. At the bottom was a dry run, or a 
creek bed where the water ran in the Winter but at no 
other time of the year. Along this were a few stunted 
scrub oak and mesquite bushes, and on the banks the 
grass was long and dry. I expected to find the birds 
either in the bottom of the ravine or on the other side. 
When quails fly over a hill they rarely light on the side 
of the hill just over the brow, but unless their previous 
flight has been long they will almost invariably cross 
the ravine and alight on the side hill opposite the one 
over which they have just come. If the ravine or 
caiion is wide and not very deep they will sometimes 
alight in the bottom if there be good cover there. So 
down into the ravine we went and, sure enough. Chic 
came to a stand away up to the left and near the head 
of the draw. I toiled up there, watching her carefully 
all the while, but there was no need, for she didn't 
offer to stir, and I finally came up to her. I expected 
to find about half the bunch here, for the birds seldom 
scatter very much on the first rise. I walked in front 
of her a few paces but nothing got up. She was point- 
ing directly up the wind. I went back to her and spoke 
quietly to her. "Go on. Careful." Cautiously she 
lifted first one foot and then the other. Then she 
crouched and crept on like a great cat about to spring 
on its prey. Then she stopped again in firm point. I 
was prepared to see birds but I was not prepared for 
what I did see. As I walked up to her the second time 



CHIC AND i 



61 



there was a rush aiul roar liko a Niagara and up into 
the air went a great cloud of blue beauties. There 
must have been at least two hundred of them and they 
were fully thirty yards from where Chic had made her 
first stand. I was somewhat rattled, I must confess, 
and committed the unpardonable blunder of firing ray 
first barrel blindly at the flock, or "on the band," as 
California ns say. It seemed as if I ought to have 

A''- 







X ^.>T^^. ■ '"'' iT'^ 'Ijyf v^:-^ 




''■■^^w^f^i 



"go on; careful 



'fm, 



killed a dozen at least, but of course I did not get a 
feather. I steadied down with the second barrel and, 
holding well onto a straggler that was going dead away 
at about thirty yards, I let him have it and he fell in a 
heap. I know it is not a good practice to let a puppy 
retrieve dead birds his first season, and especially at 
his first lesson. It is apt to make him unsteady and 
too eager to get the bird; is apt to make him believe 



62 CHiC AND I 

that retrieving is more important than finding. But 
tlie temptation Avas too great. I knew tlie bird was 
dead and he had fallen in plain sight, and Chic was so 
eager to go. She had not offered to stir at the sound 
of the gun. How could she when she had been care- 
fully taught that at the sound of the gun she must 
stop? After watching the birds and seeing some of 
them settle on the mesa, as the flat top is called, I said 
to her: "Dead bird!" She was away like the wind 
straight to the spot where the bird had fallen, but when 
she was within a few yards of it, I called: "Toho!" 

Then walking up to her I said: "Steady now. Dead 
bird! Find it!" Instantly her nose went to the ground 
and she began hunting most industriously. By this 
time I saw the bird and, watching her closely, the 
moment I saw that she had got scent of it, I called: 
"Toho!" She instantly straightened out into a point 
and I went up to the bird, picked it up, showed it to 
her, allowed her to smell it, stroked its feathers and 
called it "nice bird," and in every way tried to impress 
upon her that these birds were to be handled gently 
and not roughly. She was so eager to go on after 
others, however, that I am afraid she didn't care much 
how I handled the birds. But I knew that these tac- 
tics, persevered in, would have a good effect and so 
kept it up for about five minutes. Then I let her see 
me put the bird in my pocket and sent her on again. 
By this time she seemed to know what was wanted 
and had marked the birds as well as I had myself. 

Straightaway she went for about sixty yards and 
wheeled into as pretty a point as one need ever see. 
I walked up to her and just as I got to her and was 
getting ready to shoot, to my great astonishment she 
made a wild spring forw\ard and actually attempted 
to catch the bird which was lying so snugly hidden in 
a clump of long grass. It was a great temptation, to 
be sure, for the bird was only about eighteen inches 
from her nose, and, besides, she had held it while I 
was walking fully sixty yards to her. Of course she 



CHIC AND 1 65 

tuust hold theui for lioiirs, if necessary, after a while, 
but she was only a puppy then. Nevertheless, with 
these excuses in her favor, she had hardly touched the 
ground in her wild leap, when the cruel lash wound 
around her and made her howl with pain. My whip 
is a three strand, braided rawhide, with a good handle. 
It has a snap on the handle, and in the field is always 
snapped to a ring sewed on the right hand side of my 
shooting coat, so it is always convenient. Once more 
the whip rose and fell, and at the same time I said 
scornfully: "Shame on you! Shame! Shame!" 

"Don't hit me again," she pleaded pitifully. "I for- 
got; indeed I did. I will never do it again." 

Although the voice was not quite human, yet every 
look and action which accompanied the plaintive ap- 
peal was so expressive that her meaning could not be 
misunderstood. I was angry, too, which was an ad- 
ditional reason for not whipping her any more. 

I knew that we were now among some dozen or so 
of birds which had gone down near where we stood 
and so I sent her on, but with the caution: "Steady! 
Steady!" She slowed down and was soon feeling a 
scent. Cautiously she worked up to it and soon came 
to a point. I walked up and as the bird rose and flew 
to my right another rose at the same time and flew, 
quartering to the left. I made a pretty double and 
marked the first bird down near a little tuft of grass 
longer than that surrounding it. The second fell as 
though it were crippled, and if Chic had had a year or 
two of experience instead of being on her first outing, 
I would have sent her after it at once. As it w^as, I 
merely said: "Steady! Go On," and sent her away 
again, leaving the first bird shot for future reference. 
A few yards on she pointed again and I scored a beau- 
tiful miss. Chic was too interested to make any of the 
impertinent remarks that she afterward got into the 
habit of making when I missed an easy shot. After 
this it was point and shoot, point and shoot, with 
great regularity, until I had twelve or fifteen birds in 



64 CHIC AND I 

my pockets and twilight was fast falling. We had 
hunted all the time in the vicinity of where I had left 
the bird that fell near the bunch of grass and now, as 
we started homeward, I sent her in that direction. 
She soon got scent of it, drew up to it and pointed, and 
then, as if to tell me that there wan something wrong 
about it, she looked toward me, half dropped her tail, 
wagged it a little, and then resumed her point. ''Dead 
bird," said I. 

She looked at me with a disgusted expression that 
plainly said: **Well, don't you suppose I know it's a 
dead bird?" 

"Pick it up," I commanded, and in an instant she 
had the dead bird in her mouth. "Fetch!" and she 
came trotting toward me, her luminous eyes fairly 
beaming with delight, squared herself around in front 
of me and sat down, tipped her head back and held 
the quail up for me to take. She did it fully as well 
as she ever did in the office when taking a lesson, and 
how I did love her for it. I took the bird from her, 
petted her and praised her, and she frisked around 
and exclaimed, "Ain't I a dandy?" and "Didn't I do 
that well?" in half a dozen different ways. Then we 
started for home. It was getting too dark to shoot 
and I let Chic run at will while I took a bee line across 
the hills and valleys for the house. As I was trudg- 
ing along reviewing the good and bad work of the day. 
but on the whole rather well pleased, I saw a flash of 
something white across the path a little in front of me. 

"What was that?" Quick came the mental answer: 
"Chic after a rabbit." My whistle was in my pocket 
and I couldn't get at it. In less time than it takes to 
read these words the safety was shoved up, and, with- 
out taking the gun from my shoulder I pulled the 
trigger. I knew she w ould stop at the report, and so I 
started in the direction in which she had been going. 
This rabl)it business had got to be stopped. If she had 
got into that habit while out there alone it was un- 
fortunate — for her. Walking up to her I gave her one 



CHIC AND I 65 

cut with the whip, not a very hard one, but just a 
reminder, and saying, "Shame on you! Heel!" we 
started for the house again and she went all the way 
at my heel, having plenty of time to feel hi-r disgrace 
and to reason out what it was for. Arrived there we 
did such justice to Mrs. C— 's good supper as only 
hungry hunters can. After supper a good pipe, then 
the gun was cleaned, a bumper of Tom's native wine 
was quaffed and bed was sought to be up early ready 
for the morning's shoot. My hunting coat was folded 
up and Chic curled herself up comfortably on it and 
slept the sleep of the just at the side of my bed. 



I CHAPTER VIII 

La Prcsa. 

Don't make the common mistake of Eastern tourists 
and call thiiS "La Preesa." In Spanish the "e" has the 
long sound of "a," and consequently the title of this 
chapter should be pronounced as though it were 
spelled Da Praysa. La Presa Is one of the souvenirs 
of the great "boom" in Southern California. San Diego 
had, perhaps, a little more than its share of the boom, 
and for miles in every direction from the city, on the 
land side, the land could be seen dotted with town lot 
stakes bearing names of additions, numbers, names 
of streets, etc. La Presa is about fifteen miles from 
San Diego, and is picturesquely situated on the banks 
of Sweetwater Lake. The lake is formed by the big 
dam built by the San Diego Land and Town Company 
and is the reservoir which supplies the system of water 
works and irrigation of that company and furnishes 
the water supply to National City, a prosperous little 
city situated on San Diego bay about four miles below 
San Diego. A vast number of foothills are so conformed 
as to drain into the little valley which is now Sweet- 
water Lake, and by building a dam across the outlet of 
the valley the waters are caused to back up and form 
a beautiful lake about two miles long by about a mile 
and one-half wide. This dam is one of the sights al- 
ways shown to tourists, and is well worth seeing. It 
is ninety-six feet high, forty^seven feet thick at the 
base and twenty-five feet thick at the top. I do not 
remember exactly how long it is, but think it is some- 
thing like one hundred and seventy-five feet. It is 



CHIC AND I 67 

built in an arch with the bow presented to the pres- 
sure of the water, and is composed of solid masonry. 
The Land and Town Company, locally known as "the 
company," keep several men at work all the time clear- 
ing the water of debris, repairing fences, watching the 
dam, and various other employments. Tom was one 
of these men. He was also postmaster, committee- 
man of one of the political parties, proprietor of the 
hotel, boss of the section hands part of the time, and 
boss of the politics of the precinct all the time. The 
precinct was entitled to one delegate in the conven- 
tion, and Tom was always chairman of the delegation 
and saw that it voted unanimously for his friends. 
And no man ever had a stancher friend in a conven- 
tion than that same Tom, either. The village consisted 
of a station, a store, Tom's house, and a rather pre- 
sumptions building intended for a hotel, but which was 
seldom occupied. 

I first met Tom on an occasion when I went out 
there duck hunting with Ad. Pearson, and a better 
hunting companion than Ad. is seldom, if ever, found. 
I will never forget the time I had that night with my 
rubber boots, I had bought them the same size as I 
usually wore in leather instead of a size or two larger, 
as I should have done, and on this occasion I had been 
in the water over my boot tops and they were wet in- 
side. Ad. took a pull at them, then Tom took a pull, 
then I tried it myself. This was kept up for fully 
half an hour, until I seriously thought that 1 would 
either have to sleep in them or cut them off. Finally 
I laid down on the floor, back up. Tom put one of his 
feet where it would do most good as a brace and then 
pulled. Something had to come, and the refractory 
boot finally yielded. But I digress. 

The hills in the east were just graying in the morning 
light on the day after my first outing with Chic, when 
I sprang from my comfortable bed and hurried on my 
clothes. Chic bounced up, yawned once or twice and 



68 OHIO AND 1 

watched the preparations with intelligent eagerness. 
When all was ready I said: 

"Want to go hunting, Chic?" 

She needed no second invitation, but ran to the door 
and whined anxiously to be let out. How orisp and 
invigorating the air was that morning. The heavy 
dew was rising and created a thick mist which soon 
disappeared. I struck out for the road, and by the 
time day had fairly dawned I was a mile away from 
the house and in the main road. Coming to the dry- 
bed of the creek I branched off and followed it up. 
There was no water running, but here and there were 
little pools where the quail came to drink. I saAV 
plenty of signs but no quail. Chic was hunting eagerly 
but had met with no success as yet. A little way 
up the creek another road crossed. It was little used, 
but the soil was of such a nature that there waa 
plenty of dust there, and I expected to come across 
a bunch of birds dusting thtniselves in tlie road, as is 
their habit in the early morning. Sure enough I had 
not gone far before I saw ahead of me about fifty of 
them enjoying themselves to their utmost in the 
sandy dust. They were nbout s-venty yards from 
me at a bend in the road, and had not yet discovered 
me. I forgot the dog and stood watchmg the innocent 
diversions of the little creatures whose death was my 
mission that morning. They scratched and rolled about 
in the greatest abandon of comfort until suddenly an 
old cock quail, who was perched upon a bush as a 
sentry, gave a shrill call. Instantly every bird was on 
the alert, and with heads erect and bright eyes look- 
ing to every side for the danger, they marched off the 
road. Another call from the sentry and he took wing, 
the whole band following him. I may as well say 
here, parenthetically, that in California every aggrega- 
tion of animals or birds is called a band. There are 
no bevies of quails, flocks of ducks, herds of cattle or 
droves of sheep. All are called bands. I watched the 
band as they sailed over the small brush, and saw 



CHIC AND I 69 

them all settle on the farther side of a small draw 
about eighty or ninety yards away. They had not 
been badly frightened and did not fly far. Then I 
looked for Chic. She was nowhere to be seen. Should 
I whistle for her or should I go look for herV I de- 
cided on the latter, and taking a careful survey of the 
ground where the birds had settled, marking it well, 
I started in the direction where I had last seen her. 
On I went over the hills and through tlie draws until 
I had gone farther than I had any idea slie was, but 
DO dog. Then I quartered the ground, looking every- 
where. At last in despair, I blew the whistle. I had 
hardly done so when I caught sight of her far up on 
the hillside, making a beautiful stand. She heard the 
whistle and slowly turned her head toward me and 
then slowly turned it back again and resumed her 
point. My heart leaped, and I congratulated myself 
on having such a magnificent puppy. As I toiled on 
up to where she was standing I thought how lucky 
it was for Wun Lung, Rip Rap and the rest of the 
phenomenal dogs that they hadn't had a Chic to run 
against when they made their great records. It was a 
long way up there and I was well winded when I 
arrived, but was more than repaid by seeing my 
lovely pet hold her point so steadily. Taking a few- 
moments for a breathing spell, I advanced to put up 
the birds when out from in front of me scuttled a 
cotton-tailed rabbit! A horrible fear seized me and 
I looked around at Chic. Sure enough! There she 
stood wagging her tail and watching the fleeing bunny 
with great interest and an evident desire to chase, but 
her experience of the night before deterred her. I 
was disgusted and angry, but what could I do? It was 
the last day of the season and I hoped that before 
next season she would outgrow such nonsense. Be- 
sides I did not yet want to punisli her for pointing 
anytliing, for fear, as previously stated, she might 
get the idea that she ought not to point at all. So I 
only said: "You little fool! Shame on you! Heel!" and 



70 CHIC AND I 

throwing the gun over my shoulder I started off down 
the hill with Chic at my heels— a very crestfallen and 
disappointed dog. 

I went straight to the place where I had marlied 
the band that I had disturbed at their morning ablu- 
tions in the dust. I sent Chic out and she hunted 
hard and faithfully. We quartered back and forth, 
hunted up hill and down, looked in all the likely places, 
but that band had disappeared as completely as though 
swallowed up in the bowels of the earth. The sun 
was now peering at me over the mountains and it was 
getting warm. It was discouraging. It was now time, 
however, for the birds to be feeding, and I knew of a 
place the other side of the highest peak where there 
was a fine patch of sage and a bunch of wild grape 
vines growing up over the side of a steep hill. I went 
growling along, anathematizing poor Chic for her 
nonsense about that rabbit which had so completely 
spoiled some nice sport when, on looking up, I was 
electrified to see her stanchly pointing. A few yards 
in front of her was a little clump of bushes, and look- 
ing on the ground underneath I saw a half dozen or 
so quails scurrjing into the smaller grease brush with 
which the ground was covered. One of the greatest 
troubles in hunting California quails with a dog is that 
they will not lie for the dog until they have been well 
frightened. Chic had undoubtedly winded these birds 
and roaded up to them. She could not see them, and 
was fully ten yards from them, and yet they had either 
seen her or me and were running away. The scent 
must soon inevitably disappear, and the puzzled dog, 
if new to the business, is liable to spring forward in 
an attempt to regain the scent and thus flush the 
birds. I was near enough to caution Chic, and as she 
put her foot down with the disappearing scent I said 
"careful!" Inch by inch and then foot by foot she 
went forward and then stopped again. It was no use; 
the birds would not wait. So I walked rapidly up 
and flushed them. On the rise I got one with each 



CHIC AND I 71 

barrel and watched them sail away and drop, appar- 
ently just over the brow of a little hill. One of the 
birds had fallen dead in plain sight and I walked over 
and picked it up. The other one I could not find and 
so called to Chic, who had stood since the sound of the 
gun, wagging her tail, heedless of the bushes that it 
rapped, waiting for orders. She came bounding toward 
me and went so directly to the dead bird that I was con- 
vinced she had marked its fall, and, at the command, 
retrieved it for me. 

I may say here, in passing, that during this day and 
also during her next season's work, I never ordered 
her to retrieve a bird that I could find myself. In this 
way I saved the puppy from overwork and also 
shunned the danger of tiring her of any part of the 
sport. 

Starting on after the birds Chic came to a sudden 
stand on a straggler who thought he was smart enough 
to hide and had not flown with tlie rest of the band. 
1 stood for a moment and watched her, for I knew 
what she had. How beautiful she was— just the faint- 
est quiver at the tip of her tail, and the rest of her body 
as though carved in stone! A scarcely perceptible 
twitching of her sensitive lips and her lovely brown 
eyes almost starting from her head Avith pleasurable 
excitement! 

"Chic!" 

Not a muscle moved. 

"Chic!" a little louder. About half a wag of the tail 
was the only sign that she had heard me. Having 
surfeited myself with the sight I moved on, flushed 
the bird and missed him with both barrels! She 
watched him over the brow of the hill where his com- 
panions had disappeared, then dropped her tail and 
gave me a disgusted look and exclaimed: 

"What are those old gaspipes of yours for anyway? 
Or are you cross-ej^ed this morning?" 

I patted her head and apologized, for I felt heartily 
ashamed of myself, and she soon recovered and went 



72 CHIC AND I 

on as cheerfully as ever. Arrived at the brow of the 
hill I felt satisfied that the wary birds had only pre- 
tended to drop there, and that I should find them on 
the farther side of the little draw that intervened. 
Going up the hill for the double purpose of getting the 
slight breeze that was now springing up, and also 
of driving the birds, when they should flush again, 
down toward the more level places where it would be 
easier hunting, we crossed over the draw, and came 
down on the other side. The bands do not generally 
separate very much on the first flush, and do not even 
then lie very well to the dog, and so I expected that 
most of them would rise together. About three-quar- 
ters of them will usually rise in a bunch on the sec- 
ond flush, leaving the balance scattered, l)ut on the 
second flush those that rise together will scatter, some- 
times to all four quarters of the compass, and when 
they then settle, being thoroughly frightened, will lie 
as well as any birds. The birds had settled on the 
side of the hill but had run up to the top, and Chic 
soon liad them pinned. As I expected fully three- 
quarters of the band rose together and flew off down 
the hill toward the level ground, scattered well and 
lit where they would be easily found. Cliic still held 
her point and I walked up and flushed aud killed. At 
the sound of the gun two more birds rose to my left 
and I got one of them. Throwing open the gun the 
shells were ejected and two more shoved in and the 
gun closed just in time to cover a little fellow who 
was putting space between himself and danger as 
fast as his swiftly beating wings would let him. At 
the crack of the gun he tumbled and I turned hastily 
and missed a swift right quarterer. Again the gun 
was hastily breeched and loaded and again just in 
time. Two birds were leaving that perilous vicinity 
as though sent for, one going straight away, and th«^ 
other a left quarterer. Twice the little Smith cracked 
and two more birds were added to the score. This 
made five birds without moving out of my tracks. Do 



CHIG AND i 73 

not think that I had forgotten Chic all this time. Each 
time I loaded I cast my eyes on her, but it was un- 
necessary. Every crack of the gun was a command 
to her to toho, and she obeyed unwaveringly. I now 
had breathing time and patted her glossy head a 
couple of times and said "good puppy." Starting to 
retrieve I put up two more birds, one of which I bagged 
and one got away. Three of the birds I found myself: 
the others Chic found for me. 

Moving on down the wind and down the slight hill 
we soon got into the now w^ell scattered and thoroughly 
frightened birds. Chic behaved admirably, and we 
worked out the ground thoroughly with the result of 
adding eight more birds to the pockets of my shooting 
coat. Sixteen birds out of one band was doing pretty 
well for me, and as the sun was getting high and was 
beginning to make itself felt we concluded to go to 
the house. The year before, on this same ground, 
shooting with Ad. over his little brown dog, whose 
name I have forgotten, I made my first run of eight 
straight, and I w^ell remember how proud of it I was. 

As I went musing along a shadow crossed the ground 
at my feet, and I looked up and saw a great hawk sail- 
ing around looking for his breakfast. I make it a point 
when out with the gun to kill every bird or creature 
which I know to be instrumental in destroying game 
birds or their eggs. Many a time I have gone out of 
my way to put a quietus to the murderous propensities 
of a hawk or an owl, and have often shot the former 
when I knew the report of the gun w'ould frighten 
some game that I was after. If all sportsmen would 
hunt the game destroyers with as much avidity as they 
do the game itself there would not be such a scarcity 
of good shooting. In this particular instance I regretted 
that the two loads of number twos which I invariably 
carried had been left at the house, and that Mr. Hawk 
was too far away to be reached with the eights I was 
using on the quails. Even as I reflected a quail, which 
had straggled from some band, burst out from in front 



H 



CHIC AND T 



of me. Instantly the gun was at my shoulder, and 
when the quail was about twenty-five yards away he 
tumbled in a heap. But he did not reach the ground- 
that is, not then. The hawk had been as quick as I, 
and, although the bird was killed by the gun, he had 
not fallen two feet toward the ground before he was 



















>x^'^ 



SHE SHOOK IT IN THE MOST APPROVED RAT TERRIER 
FASHION. 

in the talons of the bird of prey. The second barrel 
cracked and I had the satisfaction of seeing the hawk 
tumble headlong to the ground. Walking up I finished 
him with my heel and disengaged the quail from his 
talons and placed it with its companions in my shoot- 
ing coat, Chic had been ranging out and had stopped 
at the sound of thv> gun. I motioned her in and started 
on. Coming up to the hawk she concluded that I had 



CHIC AND I 75 

forgotten something and started to pick it up. The 
Hawk had just enough vitality left to close his ugly 
claws around Chic's nose, and a more surprised dog 
you never saw. A yelp caused me to look around just 
in time to see her shake him off. She backed away a 
couple of steps and looked at that hawk with every ap- 
pearance of the utmost astonishment. Then rage 
seemed to get the better of her surprise and she 
bounced on him, seized him and commenced to shake 
him in the most approved rat terrier fashion. A regu- 
lar monkey and parrot time w'as in lively progress, 
but I, fearing that this might cause her to be rough 
in retrieving, quickly called her off. She was about 
to explain that she didn't propose to be used in that 
style by any such birds as that, but I quieted her, well 
pleased with her show of spirit, and we soon arrived 
at the house. Breakfast was then in order, and maybe 
those quails killed the evening before didn't taste 
good! Then the gun was cleaned and Chic and I en- 
joyed a well earned rest. 



CHAPTER IX 

Retrieving from Water. 

The sun was slowly sinking behind the western hills, 
the beautiful lake brilliantly reflecting his slanting 
beams, when Chic and I again sallied forth accom- 
panied by Little Nell, for a short ramble. Little Nell, 
as I have before explained, was a beautifully finished 
L. C. Smith ejector of the $180 grade. It is needless to 
say that she was as indispensable to my enjoyment, 
when on a hunt, as Chic herself. Walking down 
toward the lake I let Chic run at will, and most mer- 
rily did she go. There was no trace of fatigue, no 
signs of distemper or illness of any sort, but I smiled 
at her lean and gaunt appearance so greatly in con- 
trast with her usual form. Following on around the 
border of the lake it occurred to me that if I could 
get a duck it would be a good opportunity to give 
Chic her first lesson in retrieving a dead bird from 
the water. There were no ducks to speak of, but here 
and there a few ruddy ducks would swim out away 
from the bank on my approacli. We did not consider 
these ducks as very good birds for the table and con- 
sequently never shot them except when "out of meat" 
or for some other particular purpose. Their safety 
from pursuit made them quite tame and we had not 
gone far when one little fellow, lagging behind his fel- 
lows, made a good mark at about forty yards. Call- 
ing Chic in I brouglit Little Nell to bear on the duck 
and as her clarion voice rang out the duck turned 
over on his back and seemed to give up the ghost. It 
was only seeming, however, for these birds can carry 



CHIC AND I 77 

off a large amount of shot and especiallj^ of the small 
quail shot that I was using, and this one, almost in- 
stantly recovering from the shock of the charge, at- 
tempted to make off. He was hard hit, however, and 
when I gave him the second barrel he made no fur- 
ther progress, but his convulsions took him roun<l in a 
small circle, fluttering and flopping. Gradually his 
struggles ceased and he lay still upon the water. 

Chic, at my side, had been an interested spectator 
and I fully expected that at the command she would 
jump in and retrieve. Imagine my disgust then, wlien I 
said "dead bird," at seeing her look up in astonish- 
ment and then wheel and dash off up the hill, frantic- 
ally searching in the brush for the dead quail. An in- 
stant's reflection, however, convinced me that this was 
only natural, for hitherto a dead quail was the only 
dead bird to which she had had any sort of an intro- 
duction. Calling her back, I repeated the command, 
at the same time motioning toward the dead duck. 
She looked at it in wonder but made no attempt to 
get it. Then I picked up a pebble and threw it into 
the water near the duck. I should explain that when 
I said the duck was forty yards away, I meant that it 
was forty yards from where I stood when I shot. It 
was only about twelve or fifteen yards from the bank 
where we now stood. Throwing the pebble seemed 
to open Chic's eyes, for I had often done that before 
when calling her attention to a stick that I wished her 
to get. She looked, and seeing something floating on 
the water, immediately plunged in and swam toward 
it. Arrived there she punched her nose against it, 
took a good whiff of it and turned to come back. 

Now I realized the value of the pains that I had 
taken in her retrieving lessons. If she had only retrieved 
for me in play my task would now have been well-nigh 
impossible. As it was I only said "dead bird; pick 
it up!" She at once, though reluctantly, took the bird 
in her mouth, but she evidently did not like the taste 
of it for she immediately dropped it again. "Pick it 



7S CHIC AND I 

up," commanded I, sternly, and then, when she had got 
it fairly in her mouth, I ordered "fetch!" She came 
swimming in with it, but no sooner had her feet 
touched the ground than she dropped the bird, shook 
herself and ran up to me. This was not according to my 
idea of retrieving from water and so, instead of the 
praises she expected, she got her ear pinched a little. 
Not very hard, though, for she had done first-rate, 
but just enough to let her know that it was not quite 
all right. Motioning toAvard the bird, I again com- 
manded "dead bird; fetch!" and this time there was no 
misunderstanding and no hesitation. She ran to the 
duck, picked it up and brought it to me willingly, 
squared herself around in front of me and sat down 
holding up the bird for me to take. Then she was pet- 
ted and praised, and when I stepped to the bank to 
throw the bird in again she watched me with as much 
eagerness as if we were playing with the sticks of 
which she used to be so fond, and as I swung the bird 
out into the lake she watched it closely and at the 
command, "dead bird; fetch," she sprang in without 
hesitation, brought in the bird and sat down and 
held it up for me as though she had done nothing else 
all her short life. The lesson was learned and how 
simple, easy and satisfactory it all was after her care- 
ful, thorough and systematic yard and house break- 
ing. What a pleasure it was to feel that, with so 
little labor, I had a dog that would retrieve from land 
or water and that, hereafter, no poor, sorely wounded 
and half dead birds could straggle off into the weeds 
or brush to suffer hours of agony before death should 
mercifully relieve their sufferings. For to the hunter 
with a spark of humanity in his breast, it is a sorrow 
unspeakable to see a bird drop evidently so badly 
wounded that it will be impossible for it to live, and 
then be unable to find it. I know that, for myself, 
many an evening of pleasant reflection over the pleas- 
ures of a successful day has been sadly marred by the 
memory of that poor cripple, perhaps even then suffer- 



CHIC AND I 79 

ing from the wound I gave. What a queer combina- 
tion is man, for be will kill and yet pity the creature 
that he kills; yes, even pity while he kills. But so 
it is. 

•Life evermore is fed by death, 
In earth and sea and sky, 
And that a rose may breathe its breath 
Something must die." 

Having given me the duck so beautifully. Chic imme- 
diately started on a wild run, made a circle of about 
thirty yards, came back and leaped up, exclaiming: 
"That duck business is all right for you and for 
spaniels, but give me these little blue beauties that 1 
can smell and road and point. I love their delicate per- 
fume! I love the rush and roar of their swiftly beat- 
ing wings! I love to have them try to hide where I 
can't find them! Let's go and get some more quails." 
Chic is not much of an orator but her language is 
plain enough to me and I can swear that that is what 
she wanted to say and I understood it, for, to tell the 
truth, I more than half agreed with her. Consider- 
ing that I had given her water lessons enough for the 
first time I let her have her way and we struck off 
up over the hill for the brush. 

We had not gone far when a rabbit jumped out 
almost under Chic's nose. Instinctively she made a 
couple of leaps and then, before I could whistle or 
call, she stopped short, watched the rabbit out of 
sight, turned to me with a wag of her tail and re- 
sumed her hunting. With her former training it was 
not such a hard task to break her of rabbit chasing, 
after all. The ground was rough and uneven and part 
of the time Chic was out of my sight. Plodding along, 
with my mind On other things, I suddenly met with 
a most startling incident. I felt my foot strike on 
something soft and at the same instant heard the ter- 
rible warning of a rattlesnake. Fortunately I did not 
jump, but seemed frozen in my tracks for there, right 
under my foot, squirmed the ugly monster, Fortu- 



80 OHIO AND I 

nately I had stepped on his neck about three inches 
back of the head, and he could not strike. He raised 
his ugly body, and, like a flash, twined it about my 
leg. A sudden faintness came over me and I felt that 
if I should attempt to raise my other foot to crush 
his head, I would fall or at least stagger, and thus 
give him an opportunity to strike. The imminence of the 
danger brought me to myself; and carefully bringing 
down the gun, I put the muzzle right onto the head 
of the snake and blew him into kingdom come. This 
done I raised ray foot, when the convulsions of the 
dead reptile caused his bloody trunk to flop around 
ray leg in the most hideous fashion. Disengaging it 
I felt so unnerved that for a few minutes I could not 
go on. Great drops of sweat broke out over me and 
I felt as if I did not care to hunt any more that day. 
If you have never had a live rattlesnake twined about 
you then don't attempt to criticise me for being timid. 
for you don't know how it feels. I was about to whistle 
for Chic and start for the house, when I looked up 
and saw her on the brow of a little hill, in a most beau- 
tiful point. Hardly recovered from the effects of my 
fright, nevertheless the sight inspired me and I hast- 
ened up to her. Stanchly she held it and I moved up, 
flushed and missed with both barrels. Thoroughly 
disgusted, and it being quite dusk, I started for the 
house, letting Chic run at her own sweet will by the 
way while I kept a sharp lookout for rattlesnakes 
and, of course, saw none. 

After a good supper and a smoke I took my gun apart 
and started to clean it. Tom came in with his pipe. Chic 
curled up on my shooting coat oblivious to Bruno's 
attempts to coax her to play. 

"What kind of a gun is that?" asked Tora. 

"An L. C. Smith ejector," replied I. 

"V'ou seem to tliink as much of it as you do of Chic." 

"Almost." 

"Do you clean it every time you come in from a 
shoot?" 



CHIC AND I 81 

"Certainly." 

"Lots of trouble, ain't it? What do you do it for?" 

"To keep it in shape. You see, if you let a gun stand 
with the residue from the burnt powder in it, the bar- 
rels will become pitted." 

"What's that?" asked Tom. 

"Why," I replied, "the polish on tlie inside of the 
barrels will wear off in little round spots, and these 
grow deeper into little holes or pits." 

"What causes that?" 

"The combustion of the powder generates a kind of 
chemical wJiich acts on the highly polished surface of 
the inside of the barrel and destroys the polish. It is 
the same as an acid which eats into the polished sur- 
face." 

"Does tliat injure the shooting qualities of the gun?" 

"Many fellows say it does not. I have even known 
some who let their guns become pitted purposely, 
claiming that they shot better after it. It does not 
seem reasojiable to me, though. If the inside of the 
barrel is rough it certainly increases the friction of 
the shot in its passage out of the barrel and, to some 
extent, decreases the penetrative force. It is probably 
not much, but it is at least some. Then again it seems 
to me that if the inside of th<^ barrel is rough it will 
tend to deflect the shot from their course and thus in- 
jure the pattern. I don't suppose the difference in 
either point is very great but it is enough so that it 
pays to avoid it. Then, again, if you keep your gun 
in good shape it will bring a better price if you wish 
to sell it." 

"Guess you don't want to t^ell your gun. do you?" 

"Sell Little Nell! Not much!" 

"Little Nell! Is that what you call your gun? Great 
name for a gun. I suppose you named it that so you 
could imagine you had a girl with you all the time, 
eh? Just like an old bachelor," was Tom's comment. 

"Do you think that's the best make of guns'?" he con- 
tinued. 



82 CHIC AND I 

"Of course I do. Did you ever see a man yet who 
didn't think he had the best gun in the world?" 

"Well, I don't know as I ever did," laughed Tom. 
"But what is the difference?" 

"Well, first, this is an American-made gun and I am 
just a good enough American to prefer a gun made in 
my own country, other things being equal." 

"That last was well put in. I don't suppose you 
would refuse to buy a foreign-made gun that was just 
as good as yours if you could get it a little cheaper, 
would you?" 

"Well, yes, if I could only get it a little cheaper. If 
I could get it a good deal cheaper I might buy it, but I 
don't believe I could ever feel as well satisfied with it. 
I don't believe I could ever love it, as well as I would 
a home-made gun. I think the Smith the best Ameri- 
can-made gun. all things considered, that tliere is in 
the market." 

"Why?" 

"Well, first see how beautifully this gun is finished. 
Look at that stock. See how dark and rich, and how 
beautifully it is grained. I took all the varnish off 
and polished it witli oil and you can see every line 
in the fiber of the wood. Then look tln-ough those bar- 
rels. They are absolutely flawless. The shooting qual- 
ities, too, of the Smith gun are unexcelled. Some of 
the best, if not the best, records in the world have been 
m.ade with the L. C. Smith gun. The works are sim- 
plicity itself. See here," and, suiting the action to the 
word, I took out the little screwdriver that always lies 
in the case with my cleaning tools, and in a trice had 
the locks out and in my hand. "See how easy it is to 
take out these locks and clean them when necessary. 
It doesn't need a locksmith to clean this gun. Anyone, 
with common sense enough to remember where the 
parts fit can take out the locks and clean them and 
put them back. I only clean the locks once a year. 
In the spring, when I put the gun away for its long rest, 
I give the locks a good cleaning, oil them very slightly, 



CHIC AND I 83 

and put them back. I tried to do that with a couple 
of other guns that I have owned and had to take them 
to a gunsmith to have them put back again. Then look 
at the locking mechanism of the barrels," said I as I 
put the gun together, and opened and closed it to 
show Tom how it worked. "You see when the bar- 
rels come together this bolt slides through this little 
hole in the extension rib and holds the barrels down 
firmly. It is impossible for the gun to fly open with the 
concussion of the discharge, as t have seen some guns 
do. Then you see this bolt is not straight but is on an 
oval and the mechanism of the gun is such that, as it 
wears, the bolt is thrown farther over and it thus 
'takes up the wear,' as it is called, and the gun never 
shoots loose. I had a Smith gun once of their cheapest 
grade and shot it for five years, and it was as tight as 
the day I bought it. The lever had worked around to 
the left until it was considerably past the center, but 
the gun was tight. You can put the finest hair in this 
gun at the breech, and when you shut it, it will 
cut the hair. The locks are not only simple in . con- 
struction, but are very strong. There are no small 
pieces to break or get out of place and, with good care, 
there is no reason why they should not last almost a 
lifetime. The gun is perfectly balanced, too. See how 
nicely it hangs and how beautifully it 'comes up.' Yes, 
I am about married to the Smith gun and when I don't 
get my bird I know it is not the fault of the gun." It 
being rather late, and our pipes being out, Tom and I 
bade each other good night and retired. The next 
morning I took an early train for San Diego and took 
Chic with me. 



CHAPTER X 

Vacation. 

July 4, the day oil which American paitriotisiii biil> 
bles, exuberates, perspires and jollifies, had come aud 
gone. Tlie courts, through whose existence and clients' 
follies I maJie my living, had adjourned for the Sum- 
mer recess. The judges were out of town. The 
lawyers were away, some in the mountains, some in 
other cities. Tliere was nothing douig and lialf the city 
population had hied itself aw\ay to the mountains. In 
compajny Avitli the rest I proposed to spend a few 
weeks of needed recreation where the breezes sang 
throug^h the waving treetops and cooled the brows 
of numberless peaks aaid crags. My good friend, 

whose initials were J. I>., and who was always spoken 
of iln that abbreviated faishion by those who were inti- 
mate with him, had a snug little home up in the Santa 
Maria valley and had invited me up there to spend 
my vacation with him. His good wife, Mrs. W— , was 

an accomplished musician and had a fine piano in their 

little mountain home, and so J. D. instructed me to 

take my music with me, and especially to take along 

some duets. 
"We must make an early start," said J. D. "Old 

John doesn't go very fast, but if we give him plenty 

of time and a good rest during the heat of the day 

he'll get us there." 
Old John was the horse, and when I came to make 

his acquaintance I fully understood and appreciated 

J. D.'s desire to get an early start. 



GHIC AND I 85 

"You can bring your traps out to Thirtieth Street, 
where the stable is, and we will start from there," 

"What!" exclaimed I in horror. "Lug five hundred 
shells, a gun, boots and other paraphernalia a mile 
and a half before daylight to save driving down here 
with the horse! Have you any idea how much that 
truck weighs?" 

"Well," replied my friend, apologetically, "you see 
Old John is pretty old and I thought if we could save 
him that much we would get there so much sooner." 

"Gee whiz!" replied I. "If old John isn't strong 
enough to make the trip from Thirtieth Street down 
here 1 guess we'd better charter another horse." 

"Oh, I guess he can make it," said J. D., laughing. 
And so it was arranged that I should be ready at 
four o'clock the next morning and J. D. was to call 
for me. At 3:30 the next morning the little alarm 
clock awoke me from a sound slumber and I tumbled 
out of my comfortable bed in a hurry. A good wash, 
I dressed rapidly, got all my "traps" in order at the 
door and was ready to hear the sound of his wheels 
at 3:55. For a half hour I waited patiently. The next 
half hour seemed longer. By six o'clock I was mad, 
at half past six I was madder, and at seven I was 
thoroughly disgusted. At eight I went out and got 
some breakfast, and at half past eight I made up my 
mind he was not coming. At nine I was beginning to 
take off my shooting clothes and trying to make it up 
with Chic, for she evidently had an idea that I had 
done all that for the purpose of playing a trick on 
her, when I heard a whistle down at the door. Look- 
ing out I beheld J. L). composedly waiting for me in 
a nondescript sort of a vehicle. I gathered my outfit 
and descended the stairs in no very good humor, and 
when I asked him the cause of the delay he replied 
that he thought four o'clock was too early for me to 
get up and so he thought he would wait a little longer! 
Wasn't he charmingly thoughtful? Then when he 
started to get ready he found one of the traces was 



86 CHIC AND I 

broken. He had no sooner repaired that with a piece 
of wire than he discovered one of the holdbaclis was 
about to give way. He finally got that fixed and 
started off, when he happened to think that he hadn't 
oiled the buckboard, and he had no oil with him, so 
he had to go back and attend to that. All these things 
had delayed him, he said. As he enumerated these 
weak points in tlie outfit my eye gradually took in the 
buckboard and alleged harness. The former was loose 
at every joint, and the Avheels wobbled frightfully. 
The latter was a combination of string, leather straps 
and wire, that was wonderful to behold. After finish- 
ing a survey of these things I turned my attention to 
Old John, who was toiling up a slight incline as 
sturdlily as his rheumatic joints, spavins, ringbones 
and other infirmities would let him. 

"J. D.," said I, under my breath, "how old is he?" 

"I don't know," replied J. D. languidly. 

"Don't you think we are lacking in the respect due 
to old age in trying to have him haul us up there?" 

"Oh, he's a pretty good old horse yet," said my 
companion cheerfully. "Wait till he gets warmed up 
and you will see." 

"Have you got plenty of good blankets along?" I 
inquired anxiously. 

"What for?" 

"Why to sleep under, of course. It will take us two 
or three days to make a forty-mile trip with this 
outfit." 

"Don't you think so. We'll sleep at home to-night." 

I was incredulous. We were going right up into the 
mountains, and our destination was up in the neighbor- 
hood of twenty-five hundred feet above sea level. 
This, with forty miles in distance, made quite a re- 
spectable day's work for a good horse, and to make 
it with Old John seemed out of the question. Our 
course could not but have pleased the most enthusi- 
astic exhorter, for it was ever onward and upward. 
Onward very slowly, and upward very gradually, but 



CHIC AND 1 



87 



Still we progressed. Out through the beautiful El 
Cajon valley, on through the wooded canons until 
at about three o'clock we halted under the large 
»IM'eading live oaks at Mussej^'s for a rest. Instead 
of driving in the early morning when it was cool, 
we had made nearly half our journey through the 
heat of the day— and it was a good hot day, too. Here 
we unhitched Old John and turned him loose to nip 
the fresh grass and cool off a bit before he was 
watered and fed. Chic had started out very eagerly 
and could not run enough, but for the last two or three 
miles she had been quite content to run along beside 
the buckboard, although the ground squirrels, which 
were constantly scurrying hither and thither, were a 
continual temptation to her. We rested here about 
two hours and then started on our weary way again. 
We were at the foot of the Santa Maria (pronounce 
the "i" short, please) grade. This grade is one of the 
pleasantest and most celebrated in San Diego county. 
It is about three miles long, and is cut out of the side 
of the mountain and winds and twists in and out, 
following the contour of the canon along which it is 
built. At many places there is barely room for the 
wheels, with a pei-pendicular wall on one side and a 
sheer precipice on the other. There are turnouts cut 
into the side of the mountain, and the team going 
down is supposed to keep a sharp lookout and turn 
into one of these places to allow a team going up to 
pass. But stages with United States mail don't turn 
out for anybody, and we had just time to scurry into 
one of these places, when the Julian stage, with four 
horses on the jump, went by us. 

I know of nothing more exhilarating or bracing 
than to sit up on the seat with the driver of one of 
these stages, and ride down a good grade. I had the 
pleasure of riding down this grade at one time with 
Billy Kerran, one of the daredevil drivers of the 
country. He never had any accidents, but greatly en- 
joyed driving a "tenderfoot" down one of those grades 



88 CHIC AND I 

and scaring the life out of him. I would have given 
something to have got out and walked, but I knew 
what he was trying to do, and so I took a fresh grip 
on tJie buggy seat and asked him to "hurry up." He 
gave me a look and said only: "AVell, I'll be hanged!" 
When we arrived at the bottom of the grade he con- 
fided to me that I was the first man he ever took down 
there tliat he couldn't scare. He never knew how 
beautifully he succeeded with me. But I digress. 

The grade is built on the west side of the canon, 
and, as it was now getting on in the afternoon, we 
had a pleasant, shady ride. About half way up a rab 
bit bounced out from the side of the mountain and 
started off up the grade. But Chic was trotting along 
a little way ahead of us and saw Mr. Rabbit coming. 
She made a grab at him and nearly caught him. and 
frightened him so that he leaped boldly off the grade. 
Down he went, falling forty or fifty feet before lie 
struck, then bounced off the rock on which he struck, 
and continued bouncing from place to place. It must 
have been fully two hundred feet to the bottom of the 
precipice, but the rabbit bore a charmed life, for when 
he struck the bottom he kicked and wriggled a few 
seconds, then got on his feet, looked bewildered, and 
with a "consid'able shuck up like" air about him, he 
hobbled off. Chic had stood with her forefeet planted 
on the edge of the precipice, watching the aerial con- 
tortion act of the rabbit, and wh«n she saw him reach 
the bottom and limp ofC in safety, she looked up and 
whined and commenced to prance around as though 
she wanted to go through the same performance— but 
she changed her mind. 

Slowly we toiled on up the grade, and at last reached 
the top. Coming out from the shadow of the moun- 
tain the fast declining sun looked at us over a ridge 
of mountain tops. Looking back into the caQon, along 
the side of which we had just come, we looked down, 
down into its depths. I do not know how deep it is, 
but it is deep enough to give one a sensation of giddi- 




SHE MADE A ORAIJ AT IIIM AND DOWN HE WENT. 



^0 CHIG AND 1 

ness. The west side is studded with huge bowlders 
and crags and has just enough of soil to give a pre- 
carious sustenance to a few dwarfed and scrubby 
oaks, but the east side of the canon is bare granite 
and rises, sheer and ugly, from base to peak. Spread 
out before us were fields of ripe grain, green pasture 
lands and acres of waving corn. Suddenly a swish of 
wings was heard, and looking up, I saw a great flock 
of wild pigeons flying over. They rested in the tops 
of some large trees on the side of the mountain at 
our left, and in a few seconds I was on the ground 
and trudging after them. Although this chapter be- 
gins with a reference to the glorious Fourth, yet it 
was much later than that when we started. In fact 
it was nearly the first of August and dove shooting 
was in season. There was no law on pigeons at any 
time. J. D. was not much of a sportsman, and had 
given me accounts of the game to be slaughtered, 
which I afterward discovered were considerably ex- 
aggerated. I had come well prepared, but at the end 
of my trip I carried a great many of my nicely loaded 
shells back with me. I was prepared for the pigeons, 
however, and had some sixes along loaded for their 
especial benefit. 

On I trudged up the mountaiu,^ and finally drew 
near the watchful birds. My, how wild they werel 
Chic trotted at my side, eagerly expectant. I got a 
couple of large trees between the birds and myself 
and cautiously stalked them. But long before I got 
within range they took flight. I concealed myself 
behind the trees and soon had the satisfaction of see- 
ing a half dozen of them come wheeling toward me. 
On they came, flying like rockets. I drew carefully 
on the leading bird and fired— and killed one flying 
about four feet behind the one I shot at! This so 
disconcerted me that I missed clean Avitli the second 
barrel. I had not shot wild pigeons before to any 
great extent, but I reasoned that if I kept out of sight 
perhaps those who escaped would wheel and come 



CHIC AND I 91 

back. So I stfMKl si ill nnd reloaded. Sure enough (he 
birds I had shot at soon wheeled and came back 
toward the main band. I profited by my experience 
before and held well ahead of the bird I wanted, and 
at the crack of the little gun the big blue rock fell 
In a heap. But, as before, I only scored with one 
barrel. Retrieving the birds I motioned to J. D. to 
drive on up the road. While he did this I walked 
along under cover of the trees toward the main band. 
They were so occupied with watching him that I 
managed to get quite close to them. I am not gen- 
erally a pot-hunter, and do not like to shoot birds 
when they are sitting still, either on the ground or 
in the trees, but it was getting dusk, for the sun had 
long since dropped over the mountain, and I knew if 
I wanted pigeons to eat I must take them as I could 
get them. So I got a good shot at a bunch that were 
vigilantly watching J. D. and at Little Nell's imperious 
summons four of them came fluttering down. Two 
dead, one badly crippled, and one only winged. At 
the sound of the gun the whole flock sprang wildly 
into the air. But they had not seen me yet, and many 
of them came within range. Standing in my tracks 
I fired again and again before the bewildered birds 
found out that that was an unhealthy locality and 
took their flight for good. As a result of the fusilade 
Chic and I picked up twelve more of the royal fel- 
lows and then went back to the buckboard, well satis- 
fied with our first experience with wild pigeons. 

Darkness drew on apace; the stars lent their luster 
to a calm and lovely evening. Step by step faithful 
Old John took us nearer our destination. At about 
eleven o'clock we came in sight of Nuevo, a little 
village of some half dozen houses, two or three stores 
and the postoffice. At sight of the first light I thought 
we were nearing our journey's end, but replying to 
my question, J. D. informed me that he lived some 
four miles beyond. The light was in the saloon. All 
other houses were closed and silent. Chic was curled 



92 CHIC AND I 

lip at my feet, sound . asleep. I was nearly dead 
for sleep myself, for I was up rather early that morn- 
ing, and it had been a hot, hard day. But all things 
must end, and just at twelve o'clock w^e pulled up at 
the door of J. D.'s cabin, unhitched Old John and 
made him comfortable, and sought our beds very will- 
ingly. 



CHAPTER XI 

My First Deer. 

We slept long the next morning, for we were pretty 
well tired out with our long trip. Finally the call to 
breakfast warned me that if I wanted any refresh- 
ment for the inner man 1 must bestir myself, and 
with many a yawn and stretch I crawled lazily forth 
from my comfortable couch. The day was spent in 
loafing around in the shade of the magnificent live 
oak trees, in music at the piano and in looking over 
some instrumental duets with Mrs. W— . J. D.'s place 
was in a rugged caiion walled in on every side by lofty 
mountains. About one hundred yards from his house 
purled and sung a little mountain stream of the fresh- 
est, purest water. Huge trees cast their grateful 
shade around his little cottage, and altogether he had 
a delightful mountain home. Inside the cottage was 
neatly and tastefully arranged. The furniture was of 
an ordinary sort, but it was all very clean and neat 
and comfortable. On the north and east sides of the 
house was a porch, which made a delightful lounging 
place of a hot afternoon. A few yards from the house 
stood a log cabin, which had been J. D.'s habitation be- 
fore he "proved up" on his claim— for he had pre- 
empted the place. Outside the log cabin stood a large 
cook stove under a roughly built shed. Here the cook- 
ing was done, and the cabin served for a dining-room 
and pantry, thus keeping the heat of the cooking from 
the house. Tlie cabin stood in the deep shade of a 
large live oak tree, and it was always pleasant and 
cool inside. 



64 CHIC AND t 

The second nioriiing after our arrival Chic ami I 
started out on a little exploring trip. We wanted to 
see what our surroundings were. We had taken a 
short trip before breakfast, which resulted in four 
doves, one rabbit and two rattlesnakes. After break- 
fast I shouldered Little Nell and whistled to Chic, and 
we started off down the creek. A well-worn cattle 
path led down the left bank of the creek, and I pro- 
ceeded leisurely along this. Chic ran where she 
listed and explored every nook and corner of the 
brush and the rough, ragged hillside. The creek was 
very low, the little stream which ran through the bot- 
tom being scarcely more than four or five feet wide. 
In places it spread out over a flat, sandy bottom, and 
seemed scarcely to move; again it contracted into a 
narrow gorge and rushed through with the speed of a 
racehorse. The bottom of the creek was quite wide 
and filled with huge bowlders, while the banks were 
walls of solid rock and granite. Water marks there were 
in plenty to show that when the Winter snows melted 
the little creek, that now looked so peaceful and inno- 
cent, became a raging torrent. It was a warm day, 
and I walked slowly along, fully enjoying the cool 
shade of the overhanging trees and the music of the 
little stream at my feet. Occasionally a crash in the 
bushes would startle me, or perhaps a rattle on the 
rocky bed of the stream below, and I would look up 
just in time to see Chic bound into view for an instant. 
She would merely look to see if I was still continu- 
ing in the same direction, and then disappear again. 
At last she came into view a short distance in front 
of me and trotted along the path. Suddenly she stiff- 
ened into a point, with her nose high in the air. I 
couldn't surmise what she had found, and walked up 
to her with the gun on my shoulder. I looked and 
looked, and at last saw, perched up on the topmost 
branch of a bush, about thirty yards ahead of us, an 
old cock quail. I knew that he was the lookout, and 
that somewhere in his vicinity the old hen and her 



tiHIC AND I 95 

covey were suugly bid. I stood and watched liim lor 
some time. Chic had seen liim and was pointing from 
sight. I thiulc she wonld liave stood tliere all day if 
the quail had not moved. The watchful bird sat with 
every nerve strained, every sense on the alert, watch- 
ing our approach. It was plain that if we came any 
nearer he would give the alarm and fly. How beauti- 
ful he was. The plume on his head stood upright and 
slightly curved to the front, like the plume on the hel- 
met of some valiant knight watching the approach of 
an enemy to the bower of his lady love. His white 
necktie gleamed in the morning sun like silver, and the 
black patch underneath the throat glistened like bur- 
nished bronze. The silver gray of the back and wings 
blended beautifully A^ ith the brown and gray mottled 
sides, and it seemed as if I could see the latter swell 
and heave with excitement. It was a picture long to 
be remembered, and I can see it yet. At my right was 
the rocky bottom of the creek, with the little stream 
singing and dancing its way along; at my left the bank 
rose sharply, and was covered with trees and under- 
brush. The sun shone brightly, but the path was in 
the deep shade. Through a rifl in the shade of the 
trees a beam of sunlight fell squarely upon the bird 
which kept such faithful watch over its loved ones. 
Having taken my fill of the beautiful picture, I moved 
up a few steps, when, with a call of alarm, the sentinel 
took flight, and immediately there burst from 
the bush the old hen quail and about a dozen little 
ones. The little fellows were hardly bigger than spar- 
rows, and they only flew a few yards up the side of 
the hill, chii-ping and twittering, where they lit and 
scuttled quickly out of sight in the undergrowth. 

"Why didn't you shoot?" exclaimed Chic, angrily. 

"Why, Chic! Shoot little babies like that! You ought 
to be ashamed to ask such a question." 

"Well, there were two old ones," she replied. 

"Yes, the father and mother," said I. "I might just 
as well kill the little ones as to kill their protectors. 



96 CHIC AND I 

Besides it's the close season on quails now. No, no, 
Puppy. No quails this trip." 

Silenced, but not satisfied, Chic wagged her tail and 
immediately plunged into brush in the direction taken 
by the birds, but I called her back and made her come 
to heel until we were quite a way from there. 

Following on down the path, I soon came to a verita- 
ble fairy grotto. The brook had disappeared a few rods 
farther up, and here it reappeared, coming out of a 
short underground passage. It made its reappearance 
in a sort of small cave, which was almost hidden by 
the most luxuriant growth of ferns I ever saw. There 
were ferns of all sorts and sizes, from the delicate 
maidenhair to the large ones which towered ten or 
twelve feet high and stood so thick as to almost ob- 
scure the entrance to the little grotto. Out from this en- 
chanting spot flowed the little brook, rippling and chat- 
tering as though laughing in great glee at the surprise 
it created in so suddenly coming back to the light of 
day. I sat down and enjoyed the beauty of the scene. 
Then I took a long draft of the clear, sparkling water 
and stretched myself on the grass. It was getting 
quite warm, and I removed my heavy climbing boots 
and socks and sat with my feet in the water. The 
grotto looked so tempting that I finally removed all 
my clothing and crawied inside. The water was only 
six or eight inches deep, and where it dropped into 
the basin it had a fall of ten or twelve inches. This 
had washed out the fine sand until there was a hole 
there large enough to make quite a respectable bath 
tub. 

Here I sat and splashed and cooled myself off until 
I was suddenly made aware of footsteps approaching. 
I was thoroughly concealed from sight, yet, neverthe- 
less, I listened apprehensively. Soon, through my 
screen of ferns, I made out a horse approaching and 
perched upon its back, without saddle or blanket, but 
riding "lady fashion," a most beautiful young lady! 
Here was a dilemma. My clothes and gun laid out there 



CHIC AND 



97 



on the bank in plain sight, but perhaps she wouldn't 
see them. Alas, for my hopes! Chic was always a 
friendly dog and very fond of the ladies— like her mas- 
ter, some say. When I crawled into my bath she had 
quietly appropriated my clothes for a bed. I think 





{% /c/"W^^_ 



•hello! please don't CAUKY off my CLOTnE.S." 

the young lady would have passed by without noticing 
the clothes if that ornery dog had not jumped up and 
run up to her horse, jumping up in the most friendly 
fashion in the world, plainly saying: 
"Hello! Who are you? Can't you stop a Avhile?" 
At this the young lady drew rein and looked in won- 
der at the clothes and gun lying there apparently 



98 CHIC AND I 

alouG. She looked in all directions, and then at the 
clothes again. Finally, she slid down off her horse 
and cautiously approaclied the telltale bundle of gar- 
nunts. Ag-.'iin she looked around, and then cautiously 
picked up the coat. She patted the dog and picked up 
tlie gun, and seemed to be studying the situation. 
She finally evidently came to the conclusion that some- 
thing was wrong, for she took a strap off the bridle 
of the horse, and, laying the clothes across the horse's 
back, started to bind them on. Then it dawned upon 
me that I was about to be left in the primeval forest 
clothed as was our great forefather Adam before he 
adopted the fig leaf. I couldn't stand that, and so I 
called out: 

"Hello! Please don't carry off my clothes!" 

Well, I never saw a girl jump as that one did. She 
looked in every direction and up into the trees, but did 
not offer to unload my clothes. Then I called out: 

"I'm in here in this little cave, but I guess you don't 
want me to come out just now. Fact is, I'm not 
dressed for company." 

At this she suddenly seemed to realize the situation, 
for she uttered a startled "Oh!" and the way she threw 
those poor duds of mine off that horse, jumped on his 
back, displaying a most beautiful ankle as sihe did so, 
and trotted oft' up the path, would have made one think 
she had been sent for. 

Coiiviinced that my bathroom AvaiS not as private as 
I had supposed, I hastily crawled out and dressed. 
While dressing I noticed something that had thereto- 
fore escaped my attention, but, with a rapid throb of 
the heart, I recognized a deer track. It was quite 
fresh, too, and it was evident that the deer had been 
there to drink shortly before my advent. As there 
had been nothing to alarm him, I thought it not im- 
probable that he might still be in tbe vicinity. I had 
never seen a Avild deer in my life, and all I knew about 
hunting them might be printed in one short sentence. 
I knew from reading that I must keep the wind blow- 



CHIC AND I 



99 



ing from the doei* to me, and that was all I did know. 
I'he track was plam a.nd easily followed, as it went on 
down the bank of the stivam, which here was not so 
precipitous as it was farther up, and the soil was 
soft, leaving a plain imprint of the animal's hoofs. 




r "1 




















^^ I 



"I JUST STOOD AND LOOKED BACK AT HIM. 

Calling Chic in to hieel, I worked cai-efully and as 
rapidly as possible down the stream. I followed the 
track for about an eighth of a mile, and then the 
ground became harder, a.nd I lost it. I still kept on 
down the stream, lnowever, without much idea why I 



100 CHIO AND 1 

did »o, except that it was the direction in which thie 
deer had been going. How long I toiled on I don't 
now know, but I know I got thoroughly tired out and 
gave up the search. I stopped and mopped my drip- 
ping face with my handkerchief and looked around. 
A little whine from Chic attracted my attention, and 
looking down I saw her gazing intenitly at something. 
I looked in the direction indicated by her gaze, and 
there, not thirty yai-ds from me, stood a fine buck. He 
had evidently just cauglit sight of me, for there he 
stood, looking, witli wide-open eyes, in evident sur- 
prise at the intiiision. What did I doV Why, I just 
stood and looked back at him! Why didn't I shoot? 
I don't know. Ask some other fellow who has done 
the same thing. Suddenly the buck gave a snort and 
a bound. At tliis I started nea'vously, and then be- 
came aware of tlie gun in my hand. The first baiTel 
went oft" somewhere in the air and cut the leaves out 
of the tops of some trees; the second barrel went off 
in the direction of the fleteing deer, but how close to 
him I will never know. Then with a cmzy yell, I 
plunged into the brush after him. Dashing up the side 
of the hill I soon aai-'Lved ait the top and was clear of 
the woods and brush, and saw my deer full five hun- 
dred yards away, going up the mountain at a two-forty 
clip. Instinctively I raised my gun pai't way to my 
shoulder, and then I lowei-'ed it with a feeling of disap- 
pointment. Then I remembered that I had not loaded 
it after firing at the deer. Then I also remembered 
that, not expecting to see anything bigger than a dove, 
and knowing that if I shot anything in the woods It 
would be at close range, I had only nines in the gun 
when I fired at the deea-, and the half-dozen loads of 
l)uckshot that I had brought along as a matter of 
precaution, in case I should get a shot at a deer, still 
reposed undisturbed in my shooting coat pocket! I 
thrust my hand down in the pocket, and it was empty. 
Then I remembered that when the fair lady had so un- 
ceremoniously loaded my proi>erty on her horse she 



CIIKJ AND I 101 

had picked up the coat by the wrong end, as women 
always will, and I bad seen the shells fall out, but, in 
my haste to go after the deer when I discovered its 
tracks, I had gone off and left my shells lying on the 
ground where they fell. 

To say that I was thoroughly disgusted but famtly 
expressed it. I had heard of buck fever, and had al- 
ways thought somewhat dis<lainfully of a fellow who 
would get so unnerved at tJie sight of a deer that he 
would forget to shoot. But 1 comforted myself with 
the thought that I had come upon the deer so Uinex- 
peotedly that that was the reason of my discomfiture. 
xVnd then I remembered that I had been tracking that 
deer for quite a distance and so, to say that I came 
ui>on it unexpectedly was hardly fail*. In the whole 
thing I could find no grain of comfort, and sat on a 
rock and hated myself most heartily. In the mean- 
time I had watched the deer run steadily and grace- 
fully up the mountain until it arrived at the very sum- 
mit. There it stopped and looked around, taking a 
survey of the field in every direction, and probably en- 
joying the discomfiture of the tenderfoot from whom it 
had so easily escaped. Chic saw the deer, too, and 
watched it intently, and, as the deer, after satisfying 
himself that he was not pursued, leisurely disappeared 
over the top of the mountain peak. Chic looked up at 
me, wagged her tail and grinned and plainly asked if 
we were goimg to follow our quaiiy. 

"Nixy, Chic," said I, "we've had enough deer for one 
day. Deer meat isn't good, anyhow. We'd rather 
shoot something wiith feathers on it, wouldn't we. 
Puppy?" 

She readily assented, and we turned our steps back 
toward the little glen, picked up my scattered shells 
and walked slowly up the path to the house. Arrived 
there at length, I took a good wash out under the 
tree, where a bench, bow^l and clean towels were placed 
conveniently for that pmpose, went onto the porch 
and sat down to await dinner. I noticed a strange horse 



102 CHIC AND I 

cropping the graiss a little distance from the house, 
but thought nothing of it. My mind was too full of 
the sorrow and chagrin of that deer to think about 
strange horses. Soon I heard the voice of Mrs. W— 
asking me to come im. I rose and went into the house, 
and had no sooner got inside of the door than I would 
have given something to be able to back out again, for 
there, with a mischievous twinkle in her bright brown 
eyes, sat my heroine of the morning's adventui-e. An in- 
troduction followed, and, of course, those women soon 
turned the conversation on the incident of the moirning. 
Remembering that the lady had not seen me I braced 
up and professed utter ignorance of the whole affair. 
The stoiy was told, pmictuated by remarks, exclama- 
tions and laughter from me, poor dupe, and then when 
they attempted to fasten it upoii me I brazenly evaded 
their shots, and was on tlie point of denying it in toto. 
when in walked that beautiful dog of mine! With all 
the abandon of one greeting au old friend, she walked 
up to the young lady and inserted her cold nose im 
the lady's fair hand. A start, an exclamation, and 
then: "Why, that's the same dog! Now I'm sure it 
was you!" 

"Ohic!" I exclaimed in despair, "I've spent weary 
hours trying to teach you to let strangers alone. Why 
will you persist in always putting yourself on terms 
of familiarity with evei-yone you meet?" 

"Because strangers, and especially ladies, always pet 
me," she replied, adding, saucily, "and I like to be 
petted." 

There was no way out of it and I was made the butt 
of many a good-natured joke and pun during the rest 
of my stay. 



CHAPTER XII 

A Fight to a Finish. 

One afteruoou, a few days after the events narrated 
in the preceding chapter, Chic and I started out to 
explore a famous canon known thereabouts as "The 
Devil's Eye." We left the house about three o'clock in 
the afternoon and sauntered leisurt'y down the hill 
across the little stream and up the hill on the other 
side. Here we struck the trail as the small cow paths 
and narrow tracks by which the horsemen thread the 
mountains are called. Knowing it was to be a long, 
hard climb up to the top of the mountain before me, 
and a long descent on the other side, I proceeded slowly 
and took little note of my surroundings. Chic wan- 
dered wherever her erratic fancy dictated, ever and 
anon coming in to see if anything was wanted and all 
the time taking good care to keep me in view. Arrived 
at the top of the mountain I sat down to take a little 
rest before proceeding down the other side. Sitting 
there my eyes chanced to fall on a huge tarantula 
which stood out in full view as though enjoying a sun 
bath. Tarantulas are often confounded with the com- 
mon trap door spider, but when seen side by side there 
is a vast difference. The trap door spider is a large 
ugly looking insect, but, compared with the genuine 
tarantula, it is small and harmless. It is black, with 
a body about the size of the first joint of the thumb, 
with legs from an inch and a half to two inches in 
length. The tarantula is from two to three times as 
large as the trap door spider, its body and legs are 
covered with brown, shaggy hair, its legs are from 



104 CHIC AND I 

two and a half to three and a half inches long, and its 
whole appearance is most repulsive. I acknowledge a 
most hearty abhorrence of this hideous insect, which 
amounts almost to positive fear. I detest them so 
thoroughly that I never lose an opportunity to kill 
one, but I much prefer a good long stick rather than 
attempting to put my foot on the creature. 1 have 
heard phenomenal stories of its jumphig powers, but I 
never saw them exercised to any great extent. I have 
heard that if one were teasing a tarantula with a 
stick six or seven feet long, the insect would leap 
the full length of the stick and fasten on its tormentor's 
hand. I never took any chances in teasing one, but 
always brought my stick down with enough emphasis 
to immediately crush it. When quite a small boy I was 
one time teasing a small, black spider with a match, 
when the insect suddenly leaped the full length of the 
match, alighted on my thumb and bit me. The thumb 
swelled up and was quite painful and it frightened me 
so and the incident made such a thorough impression 
on my infantile mind that I have ever since held all 
of the tribe in the greatest abhorrence, and never lose 
an opportunity to kill one. 

The bite of a tarantula, while not surely fatal, is 
very poisonous. I had almost as soon take my chances 
with a rattlesnake. A man in perfect health and of a 
strong, robust constitution, may withstand the bite of 
either, but the probabilities are against him. A taran- 
tula bite should be treated in about the same manner 
as a snake bite, and if I were bitten by a tarantula 
I should employ fully as radical measures as though 
bitten by a rattlesnake. On this particular occasion 
I immediately began casting about for a stick with 
which to dispatch my enemy, when I saw a sudden 
movement on its part. Looking around to see what 
caused it 1 soon discovered another of California's 
rare insects— and the rarer they are the more thankful 
we are. The tarantula was on the edge of a large, 
flat limestone rock which had a large crack running 



CHIC AND I 10§ 

through the center. Out of this crack came slowly 
cra-vvling another of the hideous denizens of this semi- 
tropical country— a. centipede. The centipede is shaped 
something like the thousand-legged worm, which is 
so common in the middle states. It has a pair of legs 
to each joint and back of and underneath the jaws 
are two legs called maxillipedes or foot jaws. These 
are hollow and through them when excited or en- 
raged a poisonous fluid is forced. The poison of the 
centipede does not come from the mouth proper, or 
from the bite of the creature, but through these two 
organs which are half legs, half mandibles. If undis- 
turbed a centipede will crawl over the hand or any 
part of the human body and leave no trace other than 
an unpleasant burning and itching sensation. But if 
disturbed, then look out! To prevent itself from being 
shaken off it sinks every claw into the object on which 
it is resting, and if angered the maxillipedes are added 
and the poison injected. Soon the parts become red 
and, as the poison progresses, the parts immediately 
affected will rot and slough off. Its sting is not 
necessarily fatal, nor, unless the victim is in a weak 
condition, is it even dangerous, but it is exceedingly 
painful and disagreeable. The tarantula and the 
centipede are mortal enemies, and it was the discovery 
of the centipede by the tarantula that had caused its 
sudden movement. As I watched I could see the 
tarantula gradually stretch himself up on his brawny 
legs, the hair on his back and legs stiffened like that 
on the back of an angry dog, and every movement 
showed that he was preparing for battle. Whether 
intentionally or accidentally the centipede started 
crawling leisurely toward the tarantula. When about 
six inches from his formidable foe the centipede 
seemed to first discover the huge spider. He stopped 
and raised the forepart of his body from the rock and 
gently oscillated it as though inviting attack. His 
body was a pale green, his numberless legs a brilliant 
orange, shaded into a lemon color at the points of the 



106 CHIC AND I 

claws. The tarantula was not looking for that kind 
of an embrace, for he evidently knew that it meant 
death, and the two terrible insects began "sparring 
for an opening." The tarantula walked around the 
centipede and the latter continued its position, resting 
on the latter half of its body with the front half 
raised, and it kept turning so as to always face the 
tarantula. The latter would start slowly around the 
centipede, suddenly face around and go rapidly back, 
attempting to take the centipede off its guard. At 
last the tarantula thought it saw an opening and 
sprang forward like a flash, but the centipede w\is too 
quick for him and met him fairly. The tarantula im- 
mediately got aw\ay again and neither w^as hurt in 
the exchange. At last the centipede tired of maintain- 
ing its erect position and gradually began to let itself 
down, but on the first indication of an attack it im- 
mediately raised its body as before to be prepared to 
receive the onslaught. This was evidently what the 
tarantula had been playing for, for as soon as he saw 
his antagonist shows signs of weariness he redoubled 
his own efforts. Hither and thither he ran, back and 
forth, until finally he saw the opening for which he 
had been sparring. With a leap like a tiger he sprang 
clear from the rock, a distance of fully six inches, and 
alighted full on the back of the centipede. One nip 
with his terrible mandibles and the spider was aAvay 
again, and none too soon, for the centipede had turned 
like a flash and endeavored to wrap his lithe body 
about that of his more agile antagonist. But he was 
not quite quick enough and the tarantula got safely 
away. 

As if realizing the desperate character of his wound 
the centipede now assumed the aggressive. Instead 
of waiting the attack of the spider as before, he now 
ran swiftly after the hairy monster, and I was sur- 
prised to see how rapidly the centipede could run and 
how quickly he could turn. It was now a fight to a 
finish. Here and there darted the centipede, the 



CHIC AND I 107 

spider continually evading the attack but constantly 
looking for an opening to land another blow. Some- 
times the spider Avould leap clear over his antagonist 
but when he did so the centipede would raise himself 
like a flash to meet him. At last the spider saw the 
long-looked-for opportunity. The centipede had been 
growing weaker and weaker from the effects of the 
spider's poisonous bite. Not only from the poison but 
also from the nature of the bite, which was so severe 
as almost to sever the centipede in two. He ran 
slower and slower and his charges at his enemy were 
less frequent and less violent. The spider had at- 
tained a position back of the centipede. The latter 
appeared to be sick or tired and seemed not to notice 
the tarantula. Now was the chance for the latter to 
deliver the knock-out blow. I saw him gather himself 
for the spring. He calculated the distance, slightly 
crouched, and then launched himself upon his ap- 
parently dying foe. But alas for him! Whether the 
centipede had been "playing 'possum" or w^hether it 
was galvanized into renewed action by the attack it 
would be hard to tell, but sure it is that he turned 
suddenly, raised the forepart of his body as before 
and received the huge spider with open arms. Then 
I saw the centipede's head seek the tarantula's body. 
Twice, thrice, with incredible rapidity and with the 
motion of a snake striking, did the centipede strike 
home on its antagonist. The taraiitula, at the tirst 
instant that it found itself in the embrace of the centi- 
pede, made a frantic struggle to break the latter' s 
hold, but immediately recognizing the futility of the 
attempt, it began biting as fast and as hard as it 
could. It was a terrible battle! Some hot, short arm 
in-fighting now took place and it was a question which 
would be on its feet at the finish. Having delivered 
its three blows, however, the centipede gi-n dually low- 
ered itself and, as soon as it felt itself on the rock once 
more, with a quick side movement it wrapped itself 
completely about its antagonist, tightened its embrace 



108 CHIC AND I 

with one final, convulsive effort, and then ceased to 
struggle. That centipede was a perfect glutton for 
punishment, for by this time it was nearly bitten in two 
in half a dozen places by the tarantula. The latter 
now seemed to realize that his condition was not at all 
enviable, for he ceased biting and tried to escape the 
clutches of the centipede. In vain were his struggles. 
The centipede's death grip could not be broken. 
Gradually the spider's efforts grew weaker and 
weaker and finally ceased. It had been a battle of the 
giants and both were dead. I took a stick and poked 
them around but there was no life in either. 

In the meantime Chic had come up and had been a 
spectator of the battle. At first she had started to 
put her nose down to them, to see if they were good 
to eat, I suppose, but I grasped her collar and she sat 
down beside me and looked on with every appearance 
of intelligent interest. Inasmuch as neither was on 
his feet at the close of the last round, the referee de- 
clared the battle a draw and Chic and I resumed our 
trip. 



CHAPTER XIII 

A California Lion. 

I think it ls fully n mile clown that mountain side 
and a great deal of the way is so steep that it is diffi- 
cult of descent. But I floundered on, taking my time 
to it as best I could and going as slowly as I could— 
for iit was not always easy to hold back so as to go 
slowly. After a long time, as itt seemed to me, I ar- 
rived at the bottom of tlie hill and found myself in a 
most weird aiid peculiar locality. At my feet rusihed 
a mountain stream of no mean proportions, but from 
wihence it came or whither it went could not be seen 
from where I stood. The hills were arranged in such 
a way that they all seemed to meet right there. At 
the north side of the boxlike hole in which I stood, the 
cliffs rose perpendicularly to a height of several hun- 
dred feet; on the west was the steep hillside down 
which I had come and which seemed the only way 
into, or out of, the place; on the east the same steep 
cliffs that bounded the place on the north side seemed 
to continue, and on the south side the bank rose so 
precipitously as to be inaccessible. On the north and 
east were the pei-pendiiciilar walls of bare rock; on the 
west and south the steep banks were covered with 
vegetation and ti-ees. Following the course of the 
brook with my eye up the stream I soon saw that the 
cailon through Avhich it flowed made a sharp turn and 
the walls were of such a natiu-e that the opening 
through which the stream ran was hard to discover. 
On the nortih side of the cation the stream disappeared 
through the same kind of an opening. Following the 



no CHIC AND I 

stream a little way down Its coursei I came to the open- 
ing in the solid wall of stone, through which the river 
escaped. It was a narrow canon, not more than thirtj- 
feet wide at its widest place, on each side the walls 
of solid rock rose as pei-pendiculai*ly as though set 
with a plumb line, and through it coursed the little 
river, rushing and roaring as though impressed with 
a gi-eat idea of its own importance. I thought that if 
I had anyone with me, and had a good, stout cord to 
tie around my waist I would like to go down that 
rushing torrent a little way to see what became of it, 
but as I had no one with me but Chic, and as she 
showed that she would decidedly obj<ect to going down 
there, I concluded not to ti-y it. Retracing my steps, 
I stood for quite a while admiring the weird beauty 
of the scene. The only way to get into the spot on 
which I stood was by tlie west bank by which I had 
come, or by way of the brook, and from the amount 
of water that w^as then running its entrance by that 
pathw^ay would have been Impossible. The bottom of 
the i*avine was not more than twenty yards in diam- 
eter and seemed almost circular. Standing there and 
looking out was almost like looking up from the bot- 
tom of a well. 

Having taken my fill of the strange scenery, I laid 
my gun down and walked down to the edge of the 
water to take a drink. Lying down on my stomach, a 
pretty good sized one, I proceeded to let myself down 
to the water when suddenly I stopped as if petrified. 
There, right under my nose, was the track of some 
kind of a wild animal that I certainly was not looking 
for. It was a large cat track and it was perfectly 
fresh. It needed no particular experience to tell me 
that It was the imprint of a foot of a California lion. 
For a moment I seemed powerless to raise myself up, 
then I slowly pushed myself back and sprang to my 
feet. The tracks were perfectly plain and, looking 
across the brook, I saw the tracks on the other side, 
showing tliat tihe animal had leaped the l>rook there. 



CHIC AND I in 

To possess myself of the gun was the work of a mo- 
ment and then I peered anxiously around. At the 
same time Chic gave a low growl. Looking at her I 
saw her gazing intently in a cei-tain direction w^hiie 
the hair on her bax?k was rising ''like quills on the 
fi^etful porcupine." Looking in the direction of her 
gaze I saw a clump of bushes and, from the movement 
in them, I knew that my danger lay there. At the 
same time Chic gave a frightened yelp a.nd, putting 
her tail between her legs, showed her sprinting quali- 
ties to perfection. At the same moment a huge full- 
grown California lion leaped into full view not moi^ 
than thirty-five or fo-rty feet from me. I stood like 
one in a trance. I had heard that these were cowardly 
brutes, but still I did not care to tackle one there 
alone. I had studied quiite a while before setting out 
as to wliether I should take Little Nell or J. D.'s 
rifle. The latter w^as an antiquated affair and I had 
never shot a rifle; besides, I argued that if I were to 
hit a deer I would have to be within thirty or forty 
jiards of him anyway and I would rather take my 
chances with a load of buckshot at that distance than 
with a rifle. At this moment it occurred to me that I 
had not put the buckshot loads in the gim. Then I 
didn't know whether I had or not. I did not dare fire 
at the lion with small shot; I did not dare attempt to 
change them then. So there I stood. 

The lion crouched and stared at me. Then he began 
to lash himself with his tail and I thought he was 
going to spring. But he did not. A few moments 
passed thus and then I slowly brought my gun up to 
my waist. Keeping my eyes on the animal I broke the 
gun, took out one of tlie loads and looked at it. To my 
inexpressible relief I found it was a buckshot load. 
Endeavoring to hastily slip it back into the gun, it 
dropped from my nerveless fingers and fell at my feet. 
I did not dare to take my eyes off the animal, which 
still crouched and returned my stare, so felt in my 
pocket for another sihell. Having found one I slipped 



112 



CHIC AND I 



it into the gim and closed the breech. At the click of 
the closing gun the liom started uneasily. By this 
time I had somewhat recovered my scattered senses 
and came to the conclusion that if the lion was ready 
to quit and call it square I would not object. I 




u.'-Mwr....^^' 



■■'Xni'i' '^1^1 'f-r'-^' ■ ^ ■*==?! 



'f^ ^^ 







\ M 



'I'l 'I ' 




--H 



"I DID NOT DARE TAKE MY EYES OFF THE ANIMAL. 

brought the gun slowly up to my sHioulder, however, 
and took aim at the brute and tJien w\aitod. It seemed 
like hours that I stood there; probably it wms but 
a couple of minutes and then the lion raised to his 



CHIC AND I 113 

foet, deliberately yawued iln my face and coolly 
walked off, keepimg an eye on me all the time, hoAv- 
ever. I watched him until he was about fifty yards 
away, going off up the hill and to my right. Then my 
courage suddenly returned and I thought what a fool 
I was to stand there and let the beast escape so eaisily. 
Hastily throwing the gun to my shoulder, for I had 
taken it down when my unpleasant visitor walked off, 
I took a quick and unsteiidy aim and fired. With a 
yell fit to raise the dead the animal bouiided into the 
air and then, coming down, started to get away from 
that neigihborhood at a rate that put to shame poor 
Chie's attempt at sprinting. Now I was brave in- 
deed and sient the other barrel after my retreating foe, 
but without result as far as I could see. Hastily put- 
ting in a couple more charges I ran after the lion as 
fast as I could. He had disappeared around the side 
of the hill, going at a rate that I could not hope to 
emulate. 

When I arrived, pufling and blowing, at the spot 
where he disappeared, he was nowhere to be seen. 
Hiis tracks were there plain enough and I started to 
follow them. Then it occurred to me that he might 
lie in wait for me around some curve or projection and 
spring on me without giving me any chance for my 
white alley. I reflected that I hadn't lost a.uj lions 
and therefore there was no good excuse why I S)hould 
be tiying to find one. On the whole I was rather sat- 
isfied to let it go as it was and so retraced my steps. 
It was gettiing quite dusk in the cafion and, although 
I knew I would have plenty of light to get home by 
after I reached the top of the long hill which I had to 
climb, yet I did not fancy staying whei-e I was after 
it grew dark. So I whistled for Chic. I started in- 
voluntarily at the sound of the whistle. It sounded 
strange and unearthlj^ down in that hole and echoed 
and re-echoed until one would have thought thei-e' were 
twenty whistles. No Chic appeared and I started on 
my lonely climb up the hill, not a little worried about 



114 CHIC AND I 

my pet. All the way up I continued to blow the 
whistle at intervals but no dog came to the call. At 
the top of the hill I concluded that sbe had either 
found her way back to th^ house, or that she was lost 
and in the latter event I should have to organize a 
hunt for her. Slowly and weariedly I plodded my way 
homeward and arrived on the farther side of thie 
creek at the bottom of the hill just ais it was getting 
too dark for comfortable walking. I crossed the 
creek and made my way islowly up to the house. When 
about half way up I descried a white object coming 
toward me and, before I had time to recognize it, poor 
Chic almost threw hei-self into my arms. And what a 
happy dog she was! How she did nm and jump and 
hark in her pleasure at seeing me. J. D. said she 
had arrived thei'e about an hour and a half before 
and that he had been woriied about her at first, and 
then about me. He said she ran up to him and acted 
as though she was going to bite him. She would nip 
at him and fthen run a little way and look at him. 
Then she would run back and nip at him again. He 
began to tliink she had gone mad— so' little did he 
know about dogs— and when she then took hold of 
his sleeve and tried to drag him from his seat he 
cuffed her smartly. At this the poor dog whined and 
went and laid down. Then his wife suggested that 
she acted as though shei wanted him to go with her, 
and that perhaps something had happened to me. 
They discussed it together and J. D. got up and 
motioned to Chic. With a delighted bark is.he rushed 
toward the creek, leaped it, and made off up the hill 
so rapidly that she was soon lost to view. He con- 
cluded thart; if he was going to follow her he must 
have a horse or else put a rope on her. He had no 
horse but old John, and to put a rope on Chic he 
must first wait for her to return. In a few minutes 
she came back and in the meantime he and his wife 
had thought that it was improbable that anything 
had happened to me and he had concluded to wait 



CHIC AND I 115 

a little. My arrival was just as he was getting ready 
to start out for the top of the mountain to build a fii-^ 
and shoot off the rifle for the purpose of guiding me. 
Of course his only idea was that I had lo-st my way. 
It was plain that Chic realized the danger and that, 
while she undoubtedly ran to save her own hide at 
first, yet when she arrived in safety she wanted to 
lose no time in leading assistance to me. 

I know this little sketch does not read near as well, 
nor does it give me near as much pleasure to write it, 
as it would if that lion's skim were lying at my feet 
as a rug, but so few stories of unsuccessful or fright- 
ened hunters find their way into print that this one 
may, at least, have the charm of novelty. It ils also 
a tribute to the love and intelligence of my partner— 
Chic. 



CIIArTEK XIV 

Nuevo. 

Niievo is the name of the little town where J. I>. 
used to get his mail. Some romantic parties had at- 
tempted to name the village "Kamona," after the 
celebrated illusion by Helen Hunt Jackson, but the 
postofRce department replied that there was already 
one town in California by that name, and about fifty 
others that wanted it. and so the as])irations of the 
romantic individuals aforesaid were frustrated. 
Nuevo, pronounced Noo-a-vo, is a Mexican word signi- 
fying "new," and one can certainly see a great many 
new things at and in the vicinity of Nuevo. I used to 
drive old John to town every evening after the mail 
and the daily San Diego papers. 

Among the new things that a stranger might have 
seen at Nuevo was that same old John, the cart and 
nuy costume. Not new in the sense of never having 
been used, but certainly new in the sense of being 
rarely seen and never duplicated. It was a great 
pleasure, however, to jog slowly along, shooting rab- 
bits and doves out of the cart, and if I did have to get 
out of the cart to follow a band of doves, to know 
that old John would be found standing there await- 
ing me on my return. How old John did love to stand! 
And how difficult it was to induce him to move! I 
don't think he ever moved in his life Avithout vigorous 
urging, except upon one occasion. I had been to tow-n 
as usual, after the mail, and was returning with a half 
dozen rabbits and a dozen or so of doves in the bot- 
tom of the cart, and a "jag" of hay, an altogether differ- 



CHIC AND I 117 

ent kind of a jag, by the way, than that which some 
felloAvs carry out of town with them, tied onto the back 
of the cart. The seat was not a very substantial affair 
and was fastened down with wires and cords. We 
were going slowly down a slight incline when I saw 
a black streak lining the sky a little above the horizon. 
"Looks like ducks," I mused. Nearer and nearer 
came the black streak. "Can't be ducks this time of 
the year. Looks like 'em, though. By George, they are 
ducks! Coming right for me, too!" 

"Whoa!" 

Old John came up with a sharp turn and a sigh of 
content. How he did love that command. There 
was no place to hide, and no time to hide if there had 
been any place. The ducks were almost upon me 
and coming like the wind. I couldn't imagine what 
brought them, where they came from, or whither they 
were bound, but 1 liad no time to speculate on these 
points. 1 crouched down as low as I could and waited 
with bated breath. Nearer and nearer drew the long 
line, until I could see that they were going to pass 
to my right about ten to fifteen yards high and about 
thirty-five to forty yards away, but flying like the 
wind. Finally the supreme moment arrived and I 
rose and let my right go at the leader, and how good 
it seemed to see him and the next one to him take a 
header for the earth! That is, I saw them start to do 
this; I did not see them finish. the act. My second 
barrel went off pointed somewhere in the direction of 
the astonished moon, which was just showing his grim 
visage over the mountain tops. He had no business 
to be up so early, anyway, for the sun was just down, 
and I -was so mad that I wouldn't have cared a rap 
if I had peppered his saucy old face a little. It is the 
unexpected that always happens. Old John had 
moved! Of course he moved at the wrong time. Did 
you ever know a contrary horse that didn't? Whether 
he moved at the sound of the first barrel, whether the 
load was crowding him a little, or whether he saw a 



118 CHIU AND I 

bunch of unusually sweet looking grass just ahead of 
him, I will never know. But old John was not the 
only living thing around there that moved. I moved 
too. I sat down most unexpectedly and emphatically 
in the seat behind me. Perhaps there was no occasion 
for my seating myself so forcibly, but I did it. The 
cords and wires that did duty in the place of the 
long lost bolts and held the seat in place protested 
against my unreasonable energy and gave way. There 
being nothing then to hold me from continuing on my 
Joyous career, I concluded to "git a plenty while I was 
gittin' " and went on to the ground. I arrived there 
after various contortions and somersaults which w'ould 
have done credit to a clown, and was just in time to 
upset the jag of hay, which had also concluded to take 
a tumble, and there I was, all mixed up with dead 
rabbits, doves, hay, strings, wires and cords. Now 
this hay was what is called "barley hay." That is, it 
was barley cut in the milk and cured, and if anyone 
thinks it is any fun to get those barley beards between 
his flannel shirt and his skin at the sweaty close of a 
hot day, just let him try it. Chic had been trotting 
behind the cart and had been in the proper position 
to receive the hay and the bulky form of her master, 
but she was spry enough to dodge it so well that she 
only got slightly pinched. She yelped and wriggled 
out from the mass and then jumped around and 
wagged her tail as though thanking me greatly for 
taking so much pains to cause a diversion in her be- 
half. 

"Dead bird. Go fetch!" growled I, fearing that one 
of the ducks might be a cripple and not wanting it to 
get away. 

She was all alert in an instant and pricked up her 
ears and started out for the dead birds— but she started 
in the wrong direction! She had evidently not seen 
the birds fall. So I extricated myself as best I could 
from the labyrinth of wires and cords, reached un- 
availingly for several barley beards that were scratch- 



CHIC AND I U9 

ing my back, and started out with Chic for the dead 
ducks. One was found right where it had fallen, but 
the other was only retrieved after a long hunt and was 
found some ninety or one hundred yards from Avhere 
it fell. Chic found it in some long swale grass. Going 
back to the cart I patched up matters as well as 1 could 
and we resumed our journey home, ""i'liis is the only 
time I ever knew old John to move except as the result 
of forcible persuasion. 

At another time when I went after the mail I saw 
an unusual number of rabbits capering about a small, 
rocky knoll a short distance away from the roadway. 
Jumping out of the cart I left old John to feed along 
the way and went over to the knoll and sat down 
upon a rock on its top. That might seem a queer 
way to hunt rabbits, but it was all that was necessary 
to do there. The rabbits were so numerous as to be a 
perfect pest. This particular knoll was penetrated in 
all directions with their burrows, and I had sat there 
only a few minutes when a rabbit burst out of one 
and scuttled away as fast as he could go. At about 
twenty-five yards away he turned several somersaults, 
laid on one side, kicked a few times, and gave up his 
innocent life. I don't know how long I sat there or 
how many rabbits I had scattered around. It was a 
warm afternoon and Chic lay beside me in the shade 
of one of the great rocks. Suddenly I heard a loud 
"whiz," as of some huge fly, and looked up and saw 
a tarantula hawk circling above and in front of me. 
If you can imagine a wasp about four times as large 
as the largest wasp you ever saw, with a jet black 
body and legs and bright crimson wings, you will have 
a very good idea of what a tarantula hawk is like. 
Some call them tarantula wasps, but the former name 
is more common. 

I had many times seen them sailing about but had 
not noticed any of them acting as this one did, so I 
watched it. 

Jt circled slowly and more slowly around, coming 



120 OHIO AND I 

gradually lower and lower as though watching some- 
thing on the ground. I looked in vain at the ground 
immediately beneath him, but could see nothing. At 
last the hawk suddenly darted down with the rapidity 
of lightning. A quick movement on the ground di- 
rected my sight and I saw a large tarantula 
there on the bare ground, awaiting the attack 
of his enemy. Now, it began to get interesting. 
Quick as had been the hawk, or wasp, the 
tarantula had been ready for him and squared back 
on its hindlegs, raised the two forward legs, and 
opened its powerful jaws. But the hawk was not 
looking for any such reception as that and veered off. 
Again and again was this maneuver repeated on the 
part of both these monster insects, but with no result, 
until at last the hawk, being either quicker than on 
his former attacks or taking the spider more unawares, 
lighted for the iutinitesimal part of a second on the 
back of the tarantula. I do not think the hawk 
alighted on the back of his enemy in the sense of put- 
ting his feet on the spider's back, but he came close 
enough to thrust the cruel stinger witli which the back 
part of his long body was armed, its full length into 
the body of the tarantula. The wounded spider im- 
mediately turned and endeavored to grapple with his 
wily foe, but was not near quick enough. The stroke 
of the wasp had been like the electric spark for swift- 
ness and brevity, but the tarantula evidently knew 
that it meant death. He now tried to escape and 
started to run. At this the hawk came lower and by 
continually threatening kept the tarantula so con- 
stantly on his guard that he could not escape. As the 
poison began to work the tarantula gradually became 
more and more uuAvary until he suddenly received a 
second thrust from his enemy. The hawk now seemed 
to know that his work was completed, and he seemed 
to be intoxicated with joy, for he rose into the air 
and fairly whirled around, going in mad circled up and 
up, taking long flights away and suddenly and swiftly 



CHin AND I 121 

returning. The poor spider, on tlie other hand, was 
rapidly growing weaker and weaker. His efforts to 
escape grew less and less systematic, and finally he 
tumbled over and died. At the end of the tragedy the 
hawk came slowly and carefully down and lit on the 
ground near his ancient enemy. Carefully he ap- 
proached the defunct spider and I watched his every 
movement with considerable interest, for I wondered 
what he would do with it. When he arrived within a 
few inches of the dead giant he stopped and took a 
long survey of him. Then he slowly approached, 
cautiously put out one leg and gave the recumbent 
spider a push with his foot. There was no answering 
move. The hawk then sprang into the air and circled 
slowly about the tarantula, coming lower and lower 
until he finally hung suspended in the air not more 
than an inch above the dead spider, fanning the air 
violently with his wings, and making a loud, buzzing 
noise. But the spider was as dead as Julius Caesar— 
though why Caesar should be any "deader" than any 
other deceased person I never could quite understand— 
and did not move, and the hawk finally alighted upon 
the body of the spider. Then for fully twenty min- 
utes the hawk exulted in his victory and gloried over 
his fallen foe. He would run over the spider, push his 
dead body with his feet, act as though trying to drag 
the tarantula away, and in every other manner that an 
insect could showed his savage joy. But he made no 
attempt to devour the spider, and finally arose and 
flew away. Gathering up my rabbits I picked up the 
remains of the tarantula, which were fearfully swollen, 
wrapped them up in a paper and carried them back 
to the cart. I intended to preserve them in alcohol, 
but they jostled out of the cart and were lost. 

The next evening as J. D. and I were starting out 
for town, just at the top of the hill we came in sight 
of a horse and cart coming around a bend in the road. 
A nearer approacli showed it to be my friend 
Tim, with Bob and a borrowed cart. Tim was one of 



122 CHIC AND t 

the best, whole-souled, all-round sportsmen that any- 
one ever knew, and it was a pleasure to know him. 
He and I were chums, and he had promised to come 
out there on that trip, but he had been so long about 
it that I began to think he was not coming. Bob was 
another great friend of mine. He had accompanied me 
on two hard fought election campaigns, and liad been 
my tried and trusted companion on many a dark 
niglit's trip through the mountains. Up or down grade, 
across lots or through movmtain trails, it was all one 
to Bob. He was always ready when called upon, and 
always faithful. Bob was Tim's wife's standard bred 
buggy horse, and he was a jewel, too. Check him up and 
drive around town and he would put on more style 
than anybody's horse; let the check down and take an 
early start for a drive out in the country and he 
knew just what was before him, and would plod along 
as though he never had any life in him. But if you 
wanted or needed a little speed, it was there. We 
could shoot anywhere around him; he never even 
blinked an eye. Tim had Betsy with him, too. Betsy 
wasn't his wife; no, not exactly. Betsy was his 10- 
gauge Scott gun, and what a shooter she was! Chic 
and Bob were well acquainted and were great friends. 
Chic danced around Bob's head and jumped up at his 
nose; Bob, in turn, shook his head and snorted at 
Chic, and they undoubtedly told each other the news 
in language not understood by us. After hearing the 
news from town and telling a little in return, J. D. 
and I went on into Nuevo, and Tim, who was tired 
with his long ride, went on to the house and put up 
his horse. That night we retired very early, and as 
Tim and I weu'e composing ourselves for sleep— for on 
account of the limited accommodations we had to 
sleep together— Tim said: 

"What time do we get up in the morning?" 

"About four o'clock," said I. 

"Four nothing," growled Tim, "you don't catch me 



CHIC AND I 122 

getting out of here at any such unearthly hour as 
that." 

"All right," said I, "but it's a ease of fish or cut 
bait. If Ave Avant any meat to eat we must kill it. I 
don't believe there's any in the house." (That was 
wicked, for I had brought home several rabbits and 
doves that night.) No more was said, and I had slept, 
as it seemed to me, about fifteen minutes, when Tim's 
elbow was inserted between my ribs, and he whis- 
pered: 

"Come on. It's time to get up." 

"What time is itV" 

"I don't know, but it's getting daylight." 

"Hunaph! Thought you were not going to get up so 
early!" 

"Well, if it's a question of eating or not eating, why, 
I prefer to eat, and as you say we've got to shoot 
what we eat we may as well be getting at it." 

By this time we were both thoroughly awake and 
sprang out of bed and dressed. A trip over the hills, 
some grand early morning sport with the doves on 
a wheat stubble near some plowed ground, and we 
were back with hearty appetites for the steaming 
breakfast we found awaiting us. Tim looked at the 
broiled doves and bacon, the fried potatoes, buttered 
toast, coffee and cream that were spread upon the 
snowy cloth, gave one reproachful look at me, and 
proceeded to do justice to the meal. After the meal 
a pipe, then a walk down in the woods, then lunch, 
another pipe and a nap, and then for the doves and 
rabbits, a quart of good, cold water from the well at 
Nuevo, and then home in the cool of the evening. 

Those were pleasant days. Tim remained about a 
week, and then business called him away. I remained 
another week after he had left and enjoyed every 
minute of my stay. Poor J. D. has gone to his last ac- 
count. I have never seen Mrs. W— since, but no one 
knows better than she how well I enjoyed my visit to 
her little mountain home, and if this should ever hap- 



124 CHIC AND I 

pen to come under lier eye she will know that even 
yet her many courtesies and constant endeavors to 
add to our pleasures are not forgotten. About a week 
after Tim's departure, J. D. and old John took me 
down to Nuevo; there I took the Julian stage and sat 
up on the seat with the driver while we went whirling 
down the Santa Maria grade up which old John had 
crawled so slowly with us. Chic ran happily along 
beside the stage, and I took my supper in San Diego, 
after having called a messenger boy and sent a nice 
bunch of doves up to Tim's house. 



CHAPTER XV 

Murphy's Canyon* 

It was about the middle of September. The quail sea- 
son had opened on the first and the shooting had been 
very good. I was just enjoying the sound slumber that 
comes just about dawn when a gentle tapping on my 
door awakened me. 

"Well! What's wanted?" I inquired. 

"On account of but it's a splendid morning for quail 
to bite and I didn't know but you'd like to go out and 
ketch a few." 

Would I! Well, I wonder! I knew the voice very 
well, and, tumbling out of bed in a hurry, I admitted 
my old friend George. George was quite a character 
in his way. and one of the best fellows for a shooting 
or fishing trip that I ever met. He had a slight dif- 
ficulty in his speech, which made it sometimes hard for 
him to get started in what he wanted to say. Once 
started, however, iie proceeded without any trouble. 
Some of the letters of the alphabet were harder for 
him to start with than others, and, as he had no diffi- 
culty with the letter "O," he had acquired a habit of 
beginning many of his sentences with the phrase "On 
account of." The phrase sometimes being quite ir- 
relevant to what followed gave it a rather comical 
sound. George was a fellow of great personal mag- 
netism, and if one was with him very much it was 
almost impossible to help falling into some of his 
peculiarities. In speaking of it at one time George 
said: "On account of if a fellow says that to mock me 
it makes me mad; but if he does it accidentally I have 



126 CHIC AND I 

to laugh." As George Avas about six feet one, or there- 
abouts, no one eared particularly to make him mad, 
and, like all big fellows, it was not easy to provoke 
him, but if once angered, then look out! He was a 
plumber, and the best one I ever saw. If there was a 
job any plumber could do, George could do it, and he 
could do a great many that other plumbers could not. 
Many a time when others had failed at some partic- 
ular job George was sent for and had no trouble with 
the matter. Whenever he had anything to do that 
brought him near my office he would call and if I was 
not busy, which was too frequently the case, we would 
put in an hour or so chatting. Once he dropped in and, 
lounging into a chair, exclaimed: 

"On account of I just made three dollars in about 
three minutes." 

"That so," said I. "How was that?" 

"Jest turned up a little screw." 

"And you charged three dollars for turning up a 
screw! That's robbery." 

"On account of I didn't charge him nothin' for turnin' 
up the screw, but I charged him three dollars for 
knowin' jest where to find the screw and jest which 
one to turn, and jest how much to turn it. See?" 

I saw. George was a great pointer man, while I, be- 
fore I had Chic, had been a champion of the setters, 
and many a battle of the wits George and I had in my 
rooms. 

As I tumbled out of bed on this particular morning it 
was just getting gray in the east. A bank of thin 
clouds hung over the sky, a cool breeze was stirring, 
and all gave promise of an ideal day for the prince 
of small game birds, the California quail. It was the 
work of a few moments to rush through my toilet and 
jump into my shooting clothes, and we were on the 
way. Old Buck was in the shafts, and old Buck was as 
much of a character as his master. Although his name 
implied age, yet he was only a four-year-old, but was, 
to all appearances, as steady and sedate as a horse 



CHIC AND I 127 

of fifteen or twenty summers. But nppearances aro 
deceptive, as we found to our cost. 

•'Where shall we go, George?" 

"Well, there ain't been much shooting done yet, and 
I thought Murphy's caQon as good a place to go as 
any. I know^ a side shoot up there that they ain't 
many of the fellows onto, and we'll try that a whirl." 

So on we went. Chic and George's three-quarters 
grown pointer puppy sat in the back part of the light 
wagon and craned their necks around the seat to see 
where they were going. I always like to let my dog 
ride out to the shooting ground, so that she will be 
fresh and eager when we arrive there. There is no 
necessity of letting a dog run himself down when first 
etarting out "so as to take the wire edge oft"." The wire 
edge is what you want if your dog is a good one and 
Is well under control. Out through the north edge 
of the city we rolled easily along, down the grade 
into Mission Valley, up the valley and across the river, 
and we were soon on the shooting ground. 

Driving on over some very good ground we went 
on up the bottom of the caiion until we came to a small 
cailon branching off from the main one. Up this we 
turned and drove clear to the head of it. Jumping out 
we unhitched old Buck, and I prepared to tie him to 
the back end of the wagon. 

"Hold on there. Kid," said George. "On account of 
that there wagon cost money, and I ain't stuck on com- 
ing back here and finding it strung out all over the 
canon here." 

"What do you mean? Would Buck do anything?" 

"Not a thing but make kindling wood of it," replied 
George. 

Looking around, we finally found the stump of a sap- 
ling which had been broken off about seven feet above 
the ground and which was about as thick as a man's 
ankle. To this, with a couple a half -hitches and many 
other various knots, George tied old Buck. Then sur- 



128 CHIC AND I 

veying his job complacently, he remarked: "On account 
of I guess he won't break that loose." 

Loading our pockets with shells and calling the dogs, 
which needed no second invitation, we started. Up 
over the first hill we climbed, and down into the canon 
on the other side. Tliis Avas a narrow gulch with rather 
precipitous sides, and the bottom was lined with small 
bushes and undergrowth, while the last year's grass, 
^rown long and rank, lay in matted thickness on the 
ground. 

"On account o' where's Chic, Kid?" asked George. 

"Hanged if I know. We should have watched her 
better." 

"Last I saw of her she was headed up that side hill 
yonder and going like a coyote." 

"There she is," I exclaimed, as Chic came into sight 
over the brow of the hill some distance away; "look at 
her go." 

With our attention thus called to the dog, we both 
had our eyes on her when she suddenly wheeled, took 
a few steps, and froze into a beautiful point. 

"Wow!" I exclaimed. 

"By the bald-headed piper that played before Moses," 
cried George, "but she's got 'em." 

"That's what she has," replied I, and, clutching our 
guns, we hurried with long strides to where the intelli- 
gent little beauty was impatiently awaiting us. Arrived 
at her side, we looked around, and George, quickly tak- 
ing in the ground with the instinct of an old hunter, 
said quietly: 

"Now, Kid, them birds are right there in that little 
clump of brush, and when they get up they'll go straight 
up over that hill, and that's the last we'll ever see of 
them. Now, we'd better go around the dog and go up 
the hill a little ways and come down on the birds from 
that side. They won't fly back this way on account of 
the dog, and so they'll either fly over onto that nice side 
hill opposite or go on down the cafion. On account of 



CHIC AND I 129 

we'll knock the stuffin' out of 'em whichever way they 
go." 

No sooner said than done. We worked carefully 
around Chic, went a few yards up the hill, and, coming 
back toward the birds at a right angle, nearly, to the 
line of Chic's point, flushed the band. At the rise 
George's gun cracked twice to my once, and at each 
report a bird came tumbling down. I was a little 
slower than George, as in fact I nearly always was, 
but had as good success, getting a bird with each bar- 
rel. As George had predicted, the birds separated and 
part of them flew down the caiion, while the balance 
deployed over the side hill opposite, which was not 
very steep and which was covered with long, dead 
grass where the birds hid. Picking up our birds, George 
went on down the canon, while I followed those which 
had settled on the side of the hill. The hill was steeper 
than it had looked from the opposite side, and there 
was some difficulty in keeping my feet, and at the 
same time keeping a lookout for the birds, for I knew 
that one was liable to rush out from under my feet 
at any time. I sent Chic on ahead and she went up 
the hill like a charge of cavalry, for she had watched 
the birds and knew where they were fully as well 
if not better, than I. As I had expected, when I got 
right in the bottom of the ravine and had just begun 
the ascent on the other side, a bird rushed out of a 
tuft of grass not more than three feet from me. Hur- 
riedly bringing the gun to bear, I stepped on a round 
pebble, my feet went out from under me as though 
they had been on roller skates, the gun went off in 
the air, and I sat down with m6re force than elegance 
on a bunch of mighty sharp, irregular stones. A roar 
of laughter told me that my mishap had been noticed 
and that my companion was enjoying my discomfiture, 
and I mentally registered a vow to get even before 
the day was over. Gathering myself up as quickly as 
possible, I again started to climb the hill. A little way 
up I looked and saw Chic holding her bird all right. 



130 CHIG AND I 

With considerable puffing and sweating, for it is always 
warm in those caiions, I arrived at her side, put up 
the bird and missed it clean with both barrels. It was 
quite a comfort, when I looked hastily around, to find 
that George was nowhere in sight, and consequently 
had not seen that elegant miss. There was another one 
who had, though, and Chic squared herself around in 
front of me and exclaimed: "Don't you think this is a 
pretty hot day and this a pretty hard hill to locate 
birds on anjd then have you miss them in that way?" 

"Well, if you'd had the fall I did your nerves would 
be a little loose, too, I guess. Come, why don't you 
get out and find another one? There are lots of them 
here." 

"I want a drink," said she. 

Water is scarce and hard to find in these Southern 
California hills, and the wise sportsman always goes 
provided. We had a keg of water in the wagon, and I 
had a light canteen slung over my shoulder. Taking off 
my canvas shooting coat I made a depression in the 
ground with my heel, placed the coat on the ground and 
forced part of it into the depression, thus making quite 
a convenient cup for Chic to drink out of without wast- 
ing the water. I poured some water into this and 
watched her lap it up with eagerness, gave her more 
until she had had all she wanted, then pouring a little 
in my hand I bathed her eyes and head, all of which 
she thoroughly enjoyed. Then putting on my coat and 
slinging the canteen over my shoulder again, I mo- 
tioned her away, and she went off as fresh as though 
just starting out. A few rods away she made another 
point, and I went up and had the satisfaction of making 
a neat, clean kill. The sound of George's gun down 
the cafion told me that some of the birds down there 
were taking their last rest in his capacious pockets, 
for George scores a great deal oftener than he misses. 
Chic and I had some great sport on that side hill, al- 
though it was hard work. When I finally heard 
George's voice calling to me I had fourteen birds in 



CHIC AND I 131 

my pockets and as many had got away. Walking over 
to my companion, I found be had nineteen. George 
always had a knack of getting more birds than the 
fellow be went out with, but he did it in such a genteel 
way that there was no thought of rivalry, jealousy or 
heart burning— except once, I will never forget how 
George knocked out a couple of birds that got up right 
in front of us before I had time to get my gun to my 
shoulder. It was as though they had been struck with 
lightning, it was done so quickly. 

"I couldn't help it, Kid," George had said, apologet- 
ically. "You see the last time I was out me and Conn 
was out together, and we went to work to see which 
one could shoot the quickest, and on account o' when 
them two birds got up I was kind o' thinkin' o' Conn, 
and jest let 'em have it. I'll give you a fair shake 
at the next ones," said he, laughing at my lugubrious 
expression. But that is another story. 

Arrived at the top of tlie hill, where George was 
awaiting me, we held a council of war, and it was 
finally decided to go back to the wagon and unload, 
eat a lunch and go out again, which program was very 
successfully carried out. After a good rest, feeding 
old Buck, and swapping a few yarns, we again took 
to the hills. Going over the range at our left we went 
down into the caiion at the bottom, followed that down 
to the foot, made a little detour, and went back up 
another, without any success. The dogs had been 
working well, although George's puppy began to show 
signs of weariness. We stood together consulting 
where we should go next, when suddenly George ex- 
claimed: 

"W-w-w-well! On account of did you see that?" 

"See what?" 

"See that there puppy of mine. He like to a-stood 
on his blamed head. Look at him noAV." 

And sure enough there was the puppy on as stanch a 
point as one could well wish to see. About twenty 
yards away stood Ciiic, backing beautifully. Hastily 



132 CHIC AND I 

adjourning our council, we got to the dogs as fast as 
we could, put up a fine, large baud, and both scored. 
From this on our work was fast and sharp. Birds were 
plentiful, and we had our shooting clothes on. 

Again our pockets grew too heavy for comfort, and 
we started for the wagon to unload, get a drink of 
fresh water, and take a little rest. Trudging along, we 
arrived at the top of a hill that looked down on our 
camping place. I was busily talking about something 
or other and had noticed nothing unusual, when George 
exclaimed: 

"On account o' ain't that our wagon?" 

"Of course it is," said I. 

"An' ain't that our outfit scattered around there?" 

"Why, certainly," I answered impatiently. 

"W-w-w-w^ell! On account of where's that onery 
horse?" 

Then my eyes w-ere opened. Look Avhere we would, 
there was no old Buck in sight. Hastily rushing down 
the hill, we examined tlie ground. We could not even 
find the stump to which he had been tied. But we 
found the hole in the ground where the stump had 
been. Old Buck would doubtless have taken that with 
him if he could. Buck had simply pulled until he had 
broken off the stump at the roots, under the ground, 
and then he had taken his departure. 

"What kind of an animal is that, anyway?" I in- 
quired, woefully. 

"On account o' he's jest a rhinoceros," replied George, 
soberly. "Well, Ivid," he continued, "there's nothing 
else for it. We must haul the wagon to them bars at 
the end of the pasture where we come in. Old Buck 
can't get out, and we've got to catch him some way." 

It was down grade all the way, and, throwing our 
hunting traps into the wagon, George got between the 
shafts and I took hold behind and we started. Hot! 
Well, I should think it was! We could see old Buck's 
tracks where he had gone down the road ahead of us. 
We could also see ominous looking marks on the 



CHIC AND J 133 

ground, whore the stiiiiii) which now dangled like a 
huge elub at the end of the inch rope around old Buck's 
neck struck the ground. Presently we began to see 
spots of blood on the ground, and we knew that as 
old Buck ran the great club was belaboring him at 
every jump. We took considerable gratification out of 
the fact that the brute was not having such a picnic 
as he had expected. About half way down was a place 
in tlie road wliere some recent rain had stood, and the 
spot was still wet and slippery. Wlien Ave came to 
tliis I thought, as it was down grade, I would ride 
over it. My additional weight made it harder for 
Oeorge to hold the wagon back, and he twisted his 
neck to see what was the matter. In so doiug his foot 
slipped in the mud and down he came, and it was only 
by putting on brakes very suddenly that I kept the 
wagon from running over him. It was cruel to laugh, 
but I remembered how he laughed at my mishap up 
in the canon, and he did present such a comical ap- 
pearance, with his hands and face covered with mud, 
that I fairly roared. 

"That's all right, Kid," said he, mournfully, and 
somewhat testily, "but it'll be my turn next." 

"You had your turn up in the caiion. Now we're 
square." 

At the recollection of my misfortune George's face 
brightened and we resumed our toilsome journey. 
About half way down to the gate, or about a mile and 
a half from where we started, we found old Buck. He 
was quietly browsing on the hillside, dragging after 
him at every step the stump to which he had been tied. 
He was covered with bruises and blood from head to 
foot, and was a sorry looking spectacle. George took 
a sack and falsely pretended to have some oats in it, 
and by this means managed to get close enougli to 
the impenitent reprobate to catch him, when we hitched 
him up and drove him home. Next day I saw George 
in the plumbing wagon with old Buck hitched to it. 



134 CHIC AND I 

After exchanging greetings I asked liim how the horse 
was, for his whole body was a mass of bruises. 

"A little stiff, that's all." 

"I shouldn't think you would want to drive him un- 
til he got over his soreness a little," said I. 

"On account of his soreness, is it? I'll make him 
sore. W-w-why, I'd drive him if he couldn't move a 
hoof! G-g-git up, you old brute," and George shook 
the reins vindictively as he drove off. 



CIIAPTEK XVI , 

Cactus, 

Did you ever have auy experience with a California or 
New Mexico cactus? If not, you do not know what a 
cactus is. I suppose all inhabitants of the Eastern 
states have seen diminutive specimens of the cactus in 
hothouses, or cherished in small pots in some house- 
wife's window. AVell, imagine, if you can, the same 
plant grown eight or nine feet high and spread out until 
it covers acres of ground, I have seen the prickly pear, 
or flat-leaved cactus coverinig acre after acre of other- 
wise good land, and where it once gets root it is almost 
impossible to exterminate it. This is the kind usually 
seen in the East. Another kind, called by the natives 
"chollas" (pronounced clioy-as), starts up from the 
ground like a bologna sausage, grows to be about eight 
or nine inches long and one and one-half to two inches 
in diameter, and then a blossom springs out from the 
very end of the uncanny thing. From this blossom 
sprouts another "cholla," which goes thi*ough the same 
process of reproduction as the first. Each joint is as full 
of thorns as an egg is of meat— and such thorns! When 
a cluster of these chollas attains a height of six or seven 
feet and spreads out over a large surface they are a 
sight to make one shudder. Another verj^ common kind 
of cactus is the one variously called "hard head," "round 
head" and "nigger head," It grows close to the ground 
and in size varies all the way from the size of a thimble 
to a bushel basket. Until they attain the size of a base 
ball it is almost impossible to see them, so near the 
color of the dead grass are they, but it is not at all im- 



136 CHIC AND I 

possible to feel them! In one respect the different kinds 
of cactus seem to be similar, and that is in regard to 
their thorns. The microscope of the naturalist might 
discern a vast difference in the size and construction 
of these instruments of torture, but to the anatomy of 
the unwarj^ hunter they are all the same. One seems 
just as sharp as the other, just as poisonous, and just 
as difficult to extract. Each thorn is armed with a barb 
which causes the thorn to work its way into the flesh 
when once it gets started. It doesn't need very much of 
a start, either. These thoriis are from two inches and a 
half long down to those which are so small that they 
cannot be seen with the naked eye— but they can 
easily be felt with the naiied flesh. 1 remember once 
smelling of a cactus blossom. The stem was wrapped 
with cloth to prevent contact with the thorns, and it 
never occurred to me vhat there would be thorns inside 
the beautiful flower. I buried my nose in the heart 
of the fair but frail beauty, and an intense itching soou 
told me that I had ventured rashly. My nose was filled 
with little spines so small that I could not see them, 
but their presence was easily detected by passing the 
finger lightly over the nose— their presence was also 
made known to myself in a far less agreeable manner. 
How many a blossom of gladsome beauty is fraught 
with pain and suffering; how many a fruit of lovely ap- 
pearance is rotten at the core; how many a— but there, 
excuse me, I won't moralize. 

Tim and I started out one fine afternoon for a little 
whirl at the doves. It was late, but we had Bob, and he 
was in fine fettle and took us along at a rapid, swinging 
gait that was all his own. Tim said he knew where there 
were plenty of doves, and I hoped he did, but I didn't 
care much. I always had a good time just to get out 
of town, to see the fields, orchards and vineyards, to see 
the birds fly and hear them sing, to watch the ground 
squirrels scuttle into their holes as we rode by, to see 
the cattle and horses in their pastures, to see my little 
dog run and hunt, to see all nature in its quiet, peaceful 



OHIO AND I 137 

but awesome beauty— this was pleasure and recreation 
for me, even if I did not get a shot. I would a great deal 
rather get a few shots, however. As we rode along our 
conversation turned to the troublesome cactus. I al- 
ways carried a pair of close-fitting plyers, or nippers, 
with me to pull the annoying and painful thorns out of 
myself and dog, and I had these in my hand, toying with 
them as we rode along, and that turned the conversa- 
tion in that direction. 

"Yes," said Tim, "I'll never forget my first experience 
with the blamed things. I had just come here from the 
East, and was a 'tenderfoot,' sure enough. The Missis 
and I went out for a hunt with H. W— 's folks. I had 
been used to seeing from ten to twenty quails in a bevy, 
and when I got up there in Paradise Valley and saw one 
bevy with at least five hundred birds in it I could scarce- 
ly contain myself. The Missis was all excitement, too, 
and I thought she'd have a fit. She didn't, though. I had 
Bang with me then. He was a great dog; I never expect 
to own his like again. I wish I could get hold of the 
cur that poisoned him." Tim always branched off this 
way when he thought of Bang, and he was not to be 
blamed, for Bang was one of the finest pointers I ever 
saw; bred in the purple and trained to perfection. He 
was poisoned before Tim had been long in San Diego, 
and we could never discover who did it. "Well," con- 
tinued Tim, "I got out and left the Missis with W— 's 
folks and started after those quails. The first time they 
got up they made such a noise that they fairly rattled 
me; I shot at the band and never got a feather. Then 
I followed them over the hill and they settled and hid 
nicely, and Bang got to work on them. My! how that 
dog did draw and point, di'aw and point, and liow I did 
shoot, shoot, shoot, until I thought I had all the quails 
in the country. But I finally shot one that fell right 
in the middle of a big bunch of choUas. I didn't know 
anything about them, and thought they were like any or- 
dinary thorns, and I had never minded the thorns very 
much back East. First I sent Bang in after it. He went 



138 CHIC AND I 

in a little way and then backed out, whining. He had 
more sense than I. I w^as determined to have that qnail, 
and so in I went and got it. Of course I felt the thorns, 
but I paid no attention to them. I came out and went on 
with my hunting. Pretty soon the things commenced 
to itch and scratch. I stood it as long as I could, and 
then I had to go over behind a tree and take off every 
stitch of clothing I had on and hunt for cactus. I 
didn't get 'em all out, either, although I worked at it for 
over an hour. When I finally got dressed again and 
went back to where the folks were 1 found that H. AV— 
had eaten up all the lunch. Wow! But I was mad! 
Poor Bang didn't get over the cactus for a week." 

This reminded me of one time down in the Sweetwatei* 
Valley, when 1 was shooting doves. I had shot one 
which fell in a bunch of chollas. I could see the dove 
plainly enough, and there seemed to be a kind of path 
through the chollas nearly to where the dove lay. I 
cautiously worked my w^ay in by that path, for doves 
were scarce that day, and I wanted that one. I got to 
where I could almost reach the dove when I found a long 
branch of chollas directly across my path. Although 
they are large and strong looking plants, they break 
very easily. A blow on one of them with a stick will 
send raining down a dozen or more of the joints of dif- 
ferent sizes. Carefully placing the muzzle of my gun 
on this branch that lay across my path, I pushed on 
it with the intention of breaking off the branch. My in- 
tentions were doubtless all right, but the execution was 
very poor. The gun slipped oft' the branch, the latter 
flew back to within a few inches of my nose, and the 
force of the backward spring of the branch was suf- 
ficient to detach the last sprouting section, and it 
struck me fair and square in the nose! It was about 
the size of an egg, and it stayed where it struck! I 
made haste slowly to get out of there, and once out 
of the patch of chollas I laid my gun on the ground, 
picked ui) a couple of small sticks, and placing one each 
side of the tormenting cholla, I flipped it off. If I had 



CHIC AND I 129 

been greener at the business I would have seized it with 
my fingers and pulled it off, and thus filled my fiuegrs 
with the torture; but I knew enough about them to 
never touch one. But, having gotten the thing off my 
nose, my misery was but begun. The cactus is so con- 
structed that whenever one of its spines pierces any- 
thing the spine immediately pulls out of the parent 
stem and leaves itself fast in the new object for which it 
has so suddenly conceived such a strong attachment. 
Sitting down on the ground, I took out a little pocket 
mirror which I always carried, and a pair of nippers, 
and began the interesting occupation of picking chollas 
out of my nose. I got them all out but two, and these 
were so far in I could not get hold of them with the nip- 
pers, and was obliged to leave them there until I got 
home. My nose swelled to nearly double its normal 
size, which is large enough in all conscience, and as- 
sumed a rich, roseate hue which would have driven an 
old toper to distraction. Oh, it's pleasant; this inter- 
viewing a healthy, lively cactus! I've even heard Ad. 
Pearson say that the things would chase a fellow! 

As I finished my reminiscence we drew near our des- 
tination. We soon pulled into Mr. W— 's place, took Bob 
out of the shafts and tied him to a haystack, assembled 
our guns, filled our pockets with shells and started for 
the plowed ground, where we could see the doves flying 
back and forth. Along one side of the plowed field 
ran the bed of the brook, now dry, and this was bord- 
ered on either bank with low trees and scrubby under- 
growth. Just above, on the top of the hill, was a patch 
of wheat which for some reason had not done well and 
had not been cut. It was an ideal place for doves, and 
there were plenty of them there. Chic didn't amount 
to much at this kind of shooting except to retrieve, but 
slie enjoyed it all the same. I gradually worked away 
from Tim, and finally found myself quite a ways from 
him and across the bed of the creek. It was warm 
work tramping that plowed ground on ft warm day, and 
I thought I would take a little rest. Walking a little 



140 CHIC AND I 

down the bed of the creek, I stepped toward the bank. 
Just on the brink I siiddenlj' felt the well-known piick 
of a cactus. I was just prepared to sit down when I 
stepped on the pest. It pierced my heavy calf shoe as 
though it had been paper, and inserted itself without 
the slightest hesitation into my instep. In order to rid 
myself of the thorn as quickly as possible, I took a 
hurried seat on the bank, and to my horror found I 
had sat upon a perfect nest of them. Endeavoring to 
rise quickly, I placed both hands at my sides, and 
found the obliging cactus was there first! Tim was 
fully a mile away, and yet he swears to this day that 
he heard me yell. Of course I don't believe it; but then, 
as I never knew Tim to tell a lie about hunting, or 
when he has a joke on me, what am I going to do? 
What did I do then? I am very much afraid I said 
"darn," or something like that. Some men would have 
sworn a few at such provocation. I didn't take any 
comfort in sitting down for a week. Well, I did the 
best I could under such circumstances, and found my 
way back to the buggy, where I waited for Tim. He 
actually laughed when I told him what had occurred. 
He laughed until tlioughts of manslaughter and other 
recreations entered my disturbed mind. He has 
laughed at it ever since and delights to tell about it 
when he gets me in a crowd. Some men are very cruel, 
but I never thought Tim was, and in studying over 
that unfortunate situation and endeavoring to discover 
the cause of Tim's hilarity, it occurred to me that per- 
haps he laughed because he thought it was funny! 
But as I never could see anything funny about it 1 
dismissed that hypothesis and gave it up. We got all 
the birds we wanted. Tliat evening I wandered into the 
gun store. Several of the gun cranks were sitting around 
discussing guns, ammunition, wads, etc., and one of the 
boys kindly offered me a chair. But I had no use for 
chairs. A few questions brought out the story of my 
adventures, and then Ad spoke up. Ad always had a 
story for every emergency. Nothing ever happened to 



CHIC AND I 141 

you or yonr friend that did not remind Ad of something 
that had happened to him or to one of his friends. He 
generally saw your advance and went you several 
better. It was extremely chilly when Ad was not up 
with the procession as far as telling a good stoiy is 
concerned. Ad had hunted with George so much that 
he had acquired some of his idioms. 

"Where is your tobacco, Frank?" said Ad. 

Keceiving the tobacco. Ad took a generous chew and 
abseutmindedly tucked the rest of the plug away in 
his pocket. "On account tliat that reminds me of one 
time when I was out with Wieger. We were up in Mis- 
sion Valley, hunting along the river and looking into 
the ponds to see if we could scare up a lonely duck or 
two. We had walked a good deal and hadn't had the 
very best of luck, and were getting kind o' tired. It 
was after sundown and was just dark enough so we 
could see an object on the ground, but could not U:)l 
what it was without looking at it closely. I was stand- 
ing then^ ^\aitin^ for W— to come up, and finally lie 
came aloiiji-. He Avas puffing a little, and as he eame 
up to where I was he saw what he took for a bowlder, 
about the size of a peck measure, lying there on the 
ground. 'Yell,' says Wieger, 'I guess I sits me doAvn 
a liddle.' And he just kind o' let himself go and went 
down on that supposed rock. Well, it wasn't nothing 
else in the world but one o' them big niggerheads, and 
the howl poor Wieger let out of him would have turned 
an Apache Indian green with envy. I started to laugh, 
but I soon quit that. Wieger just went right up in the 
air, and that blasted niggerhead stuck right to him. I 
got a couple of sticks and tried to pull it off, but it was 
no use. The thorns were sunk in clear to the roots. 
How the poor fellow did suffer! There was nothing 
else to do, so I went and got the buggy, and W— got in 
the back of the buggy on his knees and leaned his 
elbows on the seat. Every little jog of the wheels in a 
rut, or even the motion of the buggy on level ground, 
would shake tliat horrible thing around, and W— 's 



142 CHIC AND I 

torture must have been terrible. He groaned and yelled 
until I was afraid people would think I was killin;^ 
someone in that buggy. We finally got to town and 
drove to Dr. N— 's office. Doc took a pair of shari^ nip- 
pers and cut off the thorns, and then took a pair of 
plyers and pulled them out one by one. You ought to 
have heard poor W — groan. On account that I never 
knew how bad a genuine old cactus was until then." 

Ad took a fresh chew and looked around, but none 
of the boys laughed. In fact they all looked as if they 
had that tired feeling. Chic yawned and looked up at 
me quizzically; one by one the boys walked out. Frank 
exclaimed : 
"There, Ad, you've broken up the crowd." 
Ad grinned and made no reply. I guess I was the 
only one that believed the yarn. I always believed Ad 
and George. Someway they had a kind of way about 
them when telling a story that it seemed as though they 
really expected and wanted to be believed. One couldn't 
help but feel that they would feel bad if they thought 
that their hearers doubted their word, and as I liked 
them too well to want to hurt their feelings, I always 
believed them. It was quite a struggle, sometimes, be- 
tween my friendship and my credulity, but my friend- 
ship generally won. I have often sadly thought that 
probably the boys did not give me as much credit for 
my implicit faith as they should have done. It was 
frequently a terrible strain. Well, boys, those days 
have long since passed. Many miles intervene between 
me and the friends out yonder by dear old ocean's 
soothing sounds, and I would give a good deal. Ad and 
George, to lie by a camp-fire to-night, our guns nicely 
cleaned, birds drawn, pipes betw^een our lips, the 
"choke-bore" handy, and listen to some of those incred- 
ible but interesting yarns that none tell so well as you. 



CHAPTER XVII 

The Lagunas. 

It was a blight morning in November when two light 
wagons pulled out of San Diego and took the road lead- 
ing to the miountains. In the first wagon were George, 
Ad, Charlie G— and the writer, with our guns, shells, 
clothing and other personal effects. The second wagon 
was directed by a gentleman of color engaged for the 
occasion, and w^as loaded with blankets, provender and 
cooking utensils. The reader is already acquainted with 
George, and Ad. Charlie is engaged in persuading the 
enthusiastic Easterner to invest in San Diego real estate 
and is most successful in his vocation. He has a soft, 
persuasive voice, and a delighfully genteel manner, 
which are very captivating to the prospective purchaser 
and the customer who hesitates is lost. Added to all 
this he is a most enthusiastic sportsman and dearly 
loves a day with dog and gun, and is in that convenient 
condition of health which enables him to enjoy outdoor 
sports and gives himi a good excuse for going whenever 
he feels like it. Ad and George had hunted together for 
years, and the manner of their introduction was so char- 
acteristic as to be worthy of relation. George told me 
about it. In reply to the question as to where he met 
Ad he said: 

"On account of I was driving down Sixth street 
one day and I saw a new dog. I knowed every dog 
in town that was of any account, and when I see this 
one I knoAved right away that it was a stranger. He 
was settin' out in front of one of the little places along 
there sunnin' himself. 'Whoa!' says I. You know how 



144 CHIC AND 1 

old Pat loves to stop? Well, be jest put his hindfe&t 
in tront of Ms foiiard ouesi and there he stood. Ad's 
mother was out there and I looked the dog over and 
then I took off my hat and says 'Good morning.' 'Good 
morning,' says sihe, kind o' surprised like. 'On account 
of that's a nice looking dog," says I. 'Is he yournV 
'No,' says she, 'it's my son's.' 'What's his name?' says 
I. meanhi' the dog. 

*' 'Ad P— ,' says she. 

*' 'Gome here, Ad,' says I, snapping my fingers and 
chirping to the dog. But the dog never paid no atten- 
tion. 

" 'Oh,' she says, 'that's my son's name. The dog's 
name is .' 

"I felt like a farmer at that, but I tried to call the dog 
again, and just then Ad came out. He kind o' sized me 
up and I kind o' returned the compliment, and then I 
says, 'Is that your dog?' 

" 'Yes,' says he. 

" 'Want to sell 'er?' says I. 

" 'Nop,' says he. 

" 'Is she as good as she looks?' says I. 

" 'You bet she is,' says he, 'and a good deal better.' 

" 'What's she good fur?' says I. 

" 'Quail, ducks, geese. Anything you're a mind to,' 
says he. 

" 'On account o' this 's a nice day,' says I, 'what do 
you say to trying a little shoot?' 

"He kind o' thought a second or two, and then says: 
'Well, I've got a little work that I ought to do, but I 
guess it'll wait till to-mori-ow. Wait a minute.' 

"With that he steps into the house, throwed on a 
shell coat, grabbed up a bag of loaded shells in one 
hand and his gun in the other and come out and jumped 
into the wagon, whistled to the dog, anrtl off we went to 
my house to get my traps. 

" 'That's the kind of a fellow I like to go with,' says I 
to myself, 'always ready.' 

" 'Is that your name on the wagon?' says Ad. 



CHIC AND I 145 

" 'Yep,' says I. 'And I know your name. That lady 
out there in front, your mother, I guess, told me.' 

" 'What kind o' dog you got?' says Ad. 

" 'Ain't got but three no^-. Two setters and a re- 
triever.' 

"So we went on down to the house, I tlirew in my 
shooting traps and off we went, and him and me's shot 
together a good deal ever since." 

That was tlieir iutro'duction, and it was characteristic 
of these big-liearted, honest sons of nature. 

Ads Trixy, a cross between a setter and spaniel, 
Charlie's Dee, George's King and Queen and Chic con- 
stituted the roll call of dogs that frolicked along be- 
side the wagons, all except the first being pointers. 
On we went up through El Cajon up over the Santa 
Maria grade, through Nuevo, and still on up into the 
mountains until we pulled up at Frank Hill's ranch 
in the Yalle de los Yiejos. It was well on in the after- 
noon when we reached there and we put out our tired 
horses and prepared to rest with our hospitable friend 
for the night. The first place we were invited to visit 
was Frank's wine cellar, and there w^as enough of the 
fresh, pure, home-made vintage of the grape to have 
cheered an army. It was still a long time until dark, 
and Ad and I took our guns and went out after a few 
doves or quails, or almost an^ything else that happened 
to come our way. Doves were not very plentiful, but 
we soon had enough to make a bountiful breakfast and 
returned to the house. There we found George trying 
to ride a meek and lowly burro. He was so lowly, that 
George had to tuck up his feet on either side to keep 
them from dragging the ground. The burro was all 
right with a pack, but he resented the indignity of hav- 
ing a man astride his back, in every way tliat suggested 
itself to his long-eared majesty. It was a regular circus 
performance until finally George stood on his head in 
the dust and then he gave it up. The evening w^as 
passed in cheerful convei-sation, and we retired early 
so as to be ready for a start before the sun was up in 



146 CHIC AND I 

the morning. Morning came and found us ready. Our 
goods had all been unpacked from the wagorus the night 
before and were now repacked on the backs of four 
patient burros which were to carry them up the moun- 
tain for us. "We had a long, hard climb before us. It 
was up hill eveiy step, and in many places very steep 
at that. Charlie killed a rattler and laid it upon an 
ant's nest, saying that the ants would eat it up. Sure 
enough w)lien we came back that way a few days later 
there was nothing left of the snake. Charlie swore the 
ants had carried it down into their nest, and no one 
could deny it. We were plodding wearily along when 
suddenly Ad gave a cry like an Indian and clapped his 
hand to his leg. "We all crowded around him and asked 
what was tlie matter. 

"A tarantula." said he. "He bit me right here." 

"Get your clothes off. quick," said Charlie, while 
GeoTge made a rush for the "choke-bore," which was 
carried along for snake bites. Hurriedly removing his 
unmentionables Ad disclosed a small, red spot tliat 
looked like a bite. sure, enough, and made a grab for the 
boittle. 

"HolJ oil," Faid George, "let's see that tarantula first." 

"For heaven's sake, do you want me to' die? Don't you 
see the mark? (Jive me that bottle," pleaded Ad. 

"On account o' you might 'a' done that with a pin," 
replied George. "Let's see the tarantula." A search 
was begun which soon disclosed a large, red ant which 
had been crushed by Ad in his frantic slap when he first 
felt its isting. These ants are no laughing matter. 
They are about three-quarters of an inch in length and 
are very large and armed with po<werful mandibles, or 
nippers, and are capable of giving quite a painful 
wound. 

There is nothing dangerous about them, however, and 
we indulged in a good laugh at Ad's expense when we 
discovered the cause of his excitement. 

A little farther- up Charlie exclaimed: 

"Look at Dee!" 



CHIC AND I 147 

We all looked and discovered Charlie's stanch pointer 
on a gamy stand on a side hill a little to the right 

"Mountain quail," said George. 

We all had our guns handy, and in a very few min- 
utes were struggling up the hill toward the dog. Chic 
and Trixy came rushing in. Chic backed beautifully, 
while Trixy, true to his name, crept cautiously for- 
ward and stole the point. King and Queen were tired. 
I had never shot any mountain quail, although I had 
often seen them, and was quite anxious to get my first 
bird. Soon there was a rush and a roai- and about forty 
of the beauties sprang into the air. Like the sound of 
musketry firing came the eight reports fro-m four guns. 
Six birds fell. The bird at which I had aimed with my 
first barrel was among those that fell, and, elated at my 
success, I was about to pick it up when George coolly 
put it in his pocket saying: 

"Well! if I didn't shoot this bird a' most to pieces!" 

The bird was badly shot up and fully bore out my 
claim that if he shot at it then we must have both hit it, 
for I was certain that I had not missed it. George good- 
naturedly allowed the claim and Ad generously said 
that he knew he had missed with one baiTel, so that I 
must have got one bird anyway. I was the poorest shot 
in the outfit as was indicated by the nickname that I 
bore, which was that of "Kid." It was of George's be- 
stowing. The boys, therefore, were not as technical 
with me as they were with- each other, and many a bird 
went into my bag which, while I was confident that 1 
must have hit it, one or the other was equally confident 
that he had brought it down, with the chances, I must 
confess, largely in his favor. 

The birds fiew over an almost inaccessible cliff, and as 
we were anxious to get to camp, we did not follow them. 
The mountain quail is almost the exact counterpart, as 
to color, of the valley quail. The only difference to the 
hunter is in the size, the mountain quail being nearly 
twice the size of his valley cousin. Naturalists dis- 
cover other minor differences, such as in the number 



148 OHIO AND I 

of feathers in the top-knot, etc. The nionutain <inail, 
as his name indicates, lives at a higher altitude tlian 
the valley quail, where the Winters are colder and the 
Summers warmer. He is a hardier bird, although he 
cannot carry off any more shot than his little rela- 
tive. His habits are nearly the same as the valley 
bird, buit he is not found in such large bands as the 
latter. There is also considerable difference in tlie call 
of the two birds. The larger bird is more wary and is 
found in places that make his pursuit mucli more dif- 
ficult and therefore make him moire liighly prized, liotli 
are excellent for the (table, but not nearly m hnely 
flavored as their Eastern relative, the Bob Wliite. 

Returning to the train of burros, which had been left 
In charge of our colored factoitum, we resumed our climD. 
It was lovely weatlier. The pure mountain air was re- 
freshing and bracing. The gigantic oak and pine trees 
on every hand cast grateful shade and made the air 
rich with their perfume. The scenery was grand be- 
yond description. Our path often ran along the edge 
of a precipice where a misstep meant certain destruc- 
tion on the rocks hundreds of feet below, but our sure- 
footed burrots never wavered. They caiTied their packs 
as nonchalantly along these dangerous steeps as though 
they were on level ground. The sun was dipping below 
the western hills when George, who was in the advance, 
cried out: 

"The Lagunas!" 

It was a welcome liail to all of us. Hastily pushing to 
the front we looked where George pointed and saw a 
small sheet of water stretched out before us. It was 
still quite a distance away, but the path was plain and 
the grade now almost on a level. Charlie now undertook 
the direction of the enterprise, for he had been there 
several times before and knew where the best camping 
places wei-e. Under his guidance we soon found our- 
selves unloading our burros under the spreading 
branches of a large live oak tree. Not more than twenty 
feet away stood a huge rock and from its feet burst 



CHIC AND I 149 

a living spring of the sweetest, purest water. How 
many centuries that spring had sent its bright product 
singing to the lake I know not, but it had hollowed out 
for itself a basin at the foot of the rock large enough to 
dip a backet in and bring it out full of water. The 
traps unpacked and the ammunition and all supplies 
that would be injured by exix)sure to dampness having 
been cared for, we left Solomon to stake out the burros 
and get supper while we inspected our surroundings. 
We were camped about forty yards from the lake with 
trees and forest undergrowth between. Walking care- 
lessly down to the water to take a look ai'ound we were 
suddenly suri^rised to hear the iiish of wings, and with 
a great clatter a bunch of mallards rose. They were 
feeding right at the edge of the lake and we had not 
seen them, nor they us, on account of the undergrowth 
mentioned. Hastily swinging our guns into position 
they belched forth a royal salute to those royal birds 
and four of them concluded to stay with us. There was 
no chance for an argument with George this time, for, 
in answer to our inquiries as to why he had not shot, 
he reluctantly acknowledged that his gnn was not 
cocked. George shot an L. C. Smith ; so did Charlie, but 
Ad shot a Parker. George was always claiming that 
his gim was not cocked, but I have a well defined suspi- 
cion that he forgot to shove up the safety He looked 
very sorrowfully at the ducks that Chic and Trixy 
brought in, for they were the only dogs that would re- 
trieve from water, and "cussed" his gun. If there is 
anything that George loves better than a beautiful 
greenhead it is two or three greenheads. "Laguna" is 
the Spanish word for "lake," and the Lagunas were 
nothing but two small lakes way up in the mountains, 
connected with each other by a small strip of marshy 
land where the water was about knee deep in the 
Spring and nothing but marsh later on. It made a 
passage way for the ducks, however, and in flying from 
one lake to another they almost always flew over this 
strip. At the time we wei-e there there was a very 



150 CHIC AND I 

little water running in the center of the strip, perhaps 
eighteen inches Avide and about six inches deep, while 
on either side of thisi small connection between the two 
little lakes spread acres and acres of marsh of black 
loam that the jacksnipe loves so well. At the sound of 
our guns there was a tremendous commotion Quack, 
quack, quack, resounded from every direction; the air 
was full of ducks and from the opposite side of the 
lake came the well-known and dearly loved honk of the 
wild goose. We had not expected to find any of them, 
as it Avas yet a little early for them in that latitude, and 
so we Avere somewhat surprised. We watcJied them as 
they strung out in a line as though starting for a long 
flight, but suddenly they seemed to change their minds 
and veered around toward the other lake, where, after 
circling several times, they finally settled. We were 
very hungry and rather tired, an! concluded to go back 
and see Avhat Solomon had for us, fully satisfied from 
Avhat we had already seen that we were in for some 
splendid shooting. Broiled mountain quail with bacon, 
fried chicken, being some young ones presented by our 
good friend Hill, fried potatoes, fried onions, bread and 
butter with guava jelly, and a demijohn of splendid 
white wine from the cellar before mentioned, completed 
a repast that a lot of hungry hunters and hungry dogs 
could Avell do justice to. Having eaten as only men 
free from all cares and Avith appetites sharpened by 
mountain air and uuAvonted exercise can eat, we filled 
our pipes, enjoyed a short smoke and rolled ourselves 
up in onr blankets for the night. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

Camp Life. 

It seemed as though I had just got nicely to sleep when 
I was aroused by a yell and cdes of misery. Hastily 
rolling out of my blanket in company with the other 
boys, who had also been awakened by the same sounds, 
we were soon made aware that Solomon was in some 
dire distress. 

''For de Lawd's sake, gen'lmen, help! Fire! Murder!" 

Poor Solomon was dancing frantically around scratch- 
ing and clawing at different parts' of his anatomy. In 
his haste in arousing himself he had thrown off his blan- 
ket and one corner of it lay smoldering in the fire, from 
which I rescued it. 

"What's the matter?" we asked in chorus, not being 
able to discern anything wrong. 

"Oh, Lawd! I's all afire! Somethin' 's eatin' me up! 
Dey's a tousan' tarant'las an' ceut'pedes crawlin' all 
ober me." 

Telling Solomon .o stand on the blanket we had him 
disrobe completely, and the cause of his plight was im- 
mediately discovered. He had gone to sleep upon a nest 
of ferocious army ants and his black body was nearly 
covered with the insects which had undoubtedly started 
in to serve him as their relatives did the snake. They 
had begun to tear him to pieces, and that they meant 
business was evidenced from the countless number of 
little red blotches all over his body. From some of 
them the blood was oozing. When we found that it 
was nothing more serious we began to give our faithful 
servitor the laugh. George pretended to think he was 
wounded to the death and jumped in frantic haste to 



152 CHIC AND I 

get the "snake-bite." Whether by mistake or inten- 
tionally, he produced a bottle of ammonia that Charlie 
had brought along for mosquito bites and also as an 
antidote for snake poison. Thrusting this under Solo- 
mon's noise he hastily removed the cork, at the same 
time bidding the sufferer to take a good swallow. Solo- 
mon grabbed the bottle and took a swallow of the stuff 
before he noticed that it was not what he thought, and 
tlien set up such a pitiful howl as would have moved 
the heart of a savage. 

"Oh, I's dead, suah," he groaned. "Dat's poison. 
Dat's bedbug poison. I reconize it," and, feeling that 
his last hour had come, he sank down on the blanket in 
despair. Realizing by this time that the poor fellow 
was actually in great pain, we began to take active 
steps to relieve ihim. Ad and I began rubbing him with 
the ammoinia, taking generous quantities in the palm 
of the hand and rubbing it thoroughly into tlie skin. 
George produced the genuine remedy, sampled it first 
himself to be sure that there was no mistake, and also 
to reassure Solomon, and then administered a large 
dose to the sufferer. Charlie stood by and administered 
religious consolation to the writhing darky, telling him 
that all good negroes went straight to Paradise, that we 
would see that his family did not suffer, etc. Three 
large doses of the stimulant, administered Avith very 
little interval between them, soon had a drowsy effect 
upon our patient, and he mistook the approach of sle^p 
for his final dissolution and began to pray. Among 
other things he exclaimed: 

"O Law^d, bress Mistah M— , who done gib me dis year 
bedbug poison. Doan visit on him de iniquity ob his 
sins, but allow him ter come inter de fold. But befo' he 
comes in, Law^d, make him to lie down in a bumblebee's 
nest and den po' some running fire down his throat so's 
he kin tas'e a little o' what he done gib me." 

Under the influence of the rubbing, which assuaged 
the pain of the bites, together with the remedy, he soon 
fell asleep. We wrapped him up in his blankets, re- 



CHIC AND I 



153 



moved to a safe distance from the ant's nest, and left 
him. 

We had scarcely dropped off to sleep again when we 
were again awakened by the most horrible noise that 
could be imagined. It sounded like a combined saw- 




"SO CLOSE THAT I FELT THE BREATH OP THE ° MONSTER. " 

mill and calliope, and whistled and groaned like a 
thousand fiends in teiTible torture. We had arranged 
ourselves around the tree with our heads to the tree 
and lying in different directions so as to guard all 
points of the compass. At this unearthly noise I came 
up bolt upright with my gun at a "present." As I 



154 CHIC AND I 

opened my eyes they nearly started out of my head. I 
felt my hair, what there is of it, begin to rise. Little 
chills chased each other up and down my spinal column, 
and altogether I felt very uncomfortable. Right in front 
of my face was a huge open mouth, so close tliat I felt 
the breath of the monster. Surmounting this were two 
monstrous eyes that shone in the fire light with a 
ghastly glitter, while just above the eyes two objects 
flapped back and forth like monster bats. Wakened 
from a sound sleep it was enough to give anyone a 
ohill. A second look, however, showed me that it was 
one of those pesky burros. He had pulled up the stake 
pin to which he had been tethered and wandered off. 
Missing his companions he doubtless thought he had 
discovered them sleeping by the fire and sought to an- 
nounce his coming. With my first impulse I drove 
my clenched fist against his nose with sufficient force 
to cut short the hideous bray with which he was 
awakening the affrighted ecihoes, and then, with mut- 
tered anathemas against the whole donkey tribe, I led 
liim a little way off and tied him to a tree. Solomon 
slept peacefully through the racket. "On account of 
that's worse than a snake-bite." muttered George, as 
he hunted for the bottle. 

As the darkness was just graying into dawn we silent- 
ly arose, put on our shell coats, filled the pockets witli 
sixes and fives, took our decoys and moved down to- 
ward the lakes. We had had so many awakenings the 
preceding night that none of us felt verj^ talkative, and 
our arrangements having been completed the night be- 
fore, not much talking was necessary. We left Solomon 
still sleeping off tlie effects of his potations. Going 
down to the wateii* Gharlie went off to the right bank of 
the smaller lake, which led to the west of the other 
one. George took the east side of the larger lake and 
had a tramp of about a mile to make. Ad took up his 
position where the little channel which connected the 
two lakes entered the eastern lake, and I took up my 
place where the same channel entered tlie smaller 



CHIC AND I 155 

lake, and I took up my place where the same 
channel entered the smaller lake. George and 
Charlie were to shoot off the two lakes, and 
were to use the decoys; Ad and I expected 
to make it interesting for such ducks as attempted to 
fly along the pass from one lake to the other. There 
was absolutely no cover where I was stationed, so I 
took along a few rushes and small brandies of bushes. 
These I stuck in the soft marsh in two short rows a 
few feet apart, and pulled some of the marsh grass 
and wove it into the branches. The blind thus made 
was not moire than thirty inches high, and was as in- 
conspicuous as possible. I had a piece of a rubber 
blanket about two feet square, which I folded up and 
carried in my pocket. Unfolding this I spread it out 
near me and bade Chic to lie down. She needed no sec- 
ond bidding, for she knew very well what that was 
for. In cold weather I covered the rubber with cloth or 
with straw. We were hardly settled when I heard 
two sharp reports from Charlie's direction. I strained 
my eyes, but could see notihing. Suddenly the whiz of 
wings told me that the birds had passed close enough 
for a sihot, but it was still so dark that I had not seen 
them. A couple of sharp reports from Ad's gun told me 
that they had paid toll to that indefatigable sportsman. 
He can almost see in the dark. At the sound of the 
first discharge pandemonium seemed to have broken 
loose. There was a teiTible quacking and flapping of 
wings in the direction of Charlie's stand. The air was 
vocal with the protestations of the indignant and fright- 
ened birds. At last, straining my eyes through the fast 
waning gloom, I saw a few black dots approaching. 
Before I had realized that they were really ducks they 
had passed me. I concluded that that would never do, 
and as another lot of black specks immediately became 
visible I leveled Little Nell at them and as soon as they 
assumed a respectable size I pulled the trigger. The 
air was heavy in the early morning, and altliougli I was 
shooting my favorite nitro powder, the smoke of the 



156 CHIG AND 1 

first barrel Inmg in the air to such an extent that the 
second barrel was fired almost at random. About a sec- 
ond later, and before the smoke had cleared away, I 
received a sound thump in the breast and found myself 
flat on my back in tlie marsh. Chic got out of the way 
in a hurry. The cause of my predicament was a three 
and a half pound greenhead which had been killed 
dead in the air and had pitched straiglit at me. It must 
have been flying like a bullet when it was struck; 1 am 
confident it was flying like a cannon ball when 1 was 
struck. That was a style of retrieving that I did not 
at all relisih, but I scrambled up instantly, ready to do 
more business with the birds. 

It was now getting light enough to see veiy well, and 
the birds were coming in a stream from both directions. 
I kept constantly turning my liead from one direction 
to the other and still some of them would get right over, 
and even past me, before I saw them. I did no retriev- 
ing. Birds which fell crippled were immediately shot 
over again if within range. To have tried to retrieve or 
to have had Chic retrieve would have frightened away 
the birds that were coming so rapidly. The rapid and 
almost continuous fire from the other guns told me that 
the otlier boys were enjoying as good sport as I was. It 
was a fortunate thing for those birds tliat some of those 
writers who never miss did not occupy my place that 
moirning. As it was I got more birds than I wish I had. 
The sun was well up in tbe heavens when Charlie, who 
was the only one I could see, sung out that it was time 
to quit. I was willing, for the demands of an always 
vigorous appetite were beginning to be so imperative as 
to need attention. 

Laying down the gun I began to retrieve the dead 
birds, at the same time giving Chic tlio command, 
"Dead bird; fetcli!" AValking with her we soon picked 
up two birds, and instead of taking her bird from her as 
she brought it to me, I said: "Take it to camp," at the 
same time motioiiing her to heel and walking back to 
the blind. Arrived thei'e I dropped my bird on the 



CHIC AND I 157 

ground aud bnde her drop lier bird near mine. This 
was repeated three or four times, when she picked up 
a bird, looked at me with a wag of her tail, showing 
plainly that she underetood what was wanted, ran to 
the blind with it and dropped it on the pile. The rest 
was easy. I walked leisurely aroimd, picking up now 
and then a bird, while Chic worked like a beaver. 

Tying my birds together in six bunches I slung two 
of the bunches over my shoulders, took two in my hand 
and laid the other two across Chic's back and started 
for camp. It was sticky and hard walking. At every 
step I sank from six to eight inches in the muck. Sud- 
denly a "scaipe! scaipe!" sounded to my right, and a 
little brown flash went zigzagging away over the marsh. 
The instinct of the sportsman is strong within me. At 
thiat welcome sound, forgetting how heavily I was load- 
ed down witli birds, forgetting the thick, sticky muck 
through wliicli I was walking, forgetting everything ex- 
cept that fleeing bix)wn beauty, I dropped the birds in 
my left hand, brouglit down the gun and essayed to 
turn sharply to my right to get aim at the jacksnipe. 
Alas for good intentions. I should have allowed for that 
sticky soil— but I did not. My feet stuck in the mud 
and as I threw my body around my feet refused to leave 
the soft soil with sufficient celerity to keep my body 
company. This threw me out of balance, and I felt 
myself falling backward and to the right. In vain I 
tried to right myself. The ducks ihanging on my 
shoulders swung out and increased the levei'age and as- 
sisted in pulling me down, and Anally, as easily and 
gracefully as ever lady seated herself in cozily uphol- 
stered parlor, I sank to rest in that soft, black mud and 
water. And that was not all of it. My feet still stuck 
in the mud; there was just enough water there so that 
in my sitting posture I could feel it running into the 
tops of my hip boots. To raise myself from that posi- 
tion without something in fix)nt to pull on, or some- 
thing back of me to push on, was impossible. There 
was nothing in front but grass and mud; to put my 



158 CHIC AND I 

lovely little gun down into the mud back of me and push 
on it to help myself out was not to be thought of. The 
water was running into my boots all this time, and 
there was no time to hesitate. These thoughts passed 
through my head in far less time than it takes to read 
them, and I deliberately rolled over, twisted my feet 
out of the mud, got up with the aid of my hands and 
knees and finally got on my feet. But, oh, what a sight! 
I bad fairly wallowed in that soft, black muck in order 
to get out of it! When I put my hands down they sank 
to the elbows, and I was plastered with mud from head 
to foot. About this time Ad and George came upon tlie 
scene. 

"What ye doing there, Kid?" asked Ad. 

"Ho! Ho! Ho!" laughed George. "Takin' a mud 
bath, eh? On acount I've heard that's good for rheu- 
matism. Got the rheumatism. Kid?" 

"Shut up!" growled I. 

"He thinks this is Tia Juana," explained Ad. "He's 
heard of the mud baths down there and thinks this is 
just as good." 

"On account o' ain't there some kind o' animal that 
likes to wallow in the mud?" queried Geoirge. "Seems 
to me I've heard o' something o' that sort. Give 'em 
nice, clean straw and they'll leave it and go out and roll 
in the mud. What kind o' animal is that Kid? Come, 
you're a natm'alist." 

I gripped my gun a little harder and strode along in 
dignified silence. But I resolved to go out that after- 
noon and kill all the jacksnipes there were in the maxsh, 
that is, if they would fly straight enough so I could hit 
them, and not tell thoise fellows anything about them. 
I knew how well they loved jacksnipes and knew of 
no better way to punish them. AnTived at the camp 
where we expected to find breakfast ready for us, we 
found a soundly sleeping darky. He had not yet re- 
covered from the effects of Geoirge's lilK3ral doses of 
medicine. 



CHIC AND I 159 

''On account of he won't get no more," declared 
George. "I don't think it's good for him." 

We went to work and soon got up a delicious break- 
fast, which, it is needless to say, we heartily enjoyed. 
After breakfast we drew our birds and sat around 
smoking and telling of the incidents of the morning. 



CHAPTER XTX 

More Camp Life, 

Solomon awoke about 10 o'clock with a terrible head 
ache. He looked as though he had been drawn through 
a thrashing machine. He got dinner for us in a sullen, 
indifferent sort of a way. 

After our mid-day meal had had time to get a little 
settled and accommodate itself to its new quarters, I 
began to think about those jacksnipes. I was just 
communing with myself whether I should carry out 
my intention of going out and slaughtering them all 
by myself or whether I should tell the boys. My clothes 
had dried, I had scraped the thickest of the mud off 
of them and washed it off of my hands and face, and 
consequently did not feel so vindictive toward the 
boys for their lack of sympathy. Just as I had about 
made up my mind to tell them and suggest that we go 
out after a few snipes George looked at me mischiev- 
ouslj^ and grunted a couple of times, like a hog! That 
settled it! He should not have one of those jacks! I 
had fully come to this conclusion when George re- 
marked : 

"On account of I've got something to tell you, Kid." 

"Well, what is it?" I asked. 

"Do you know what is the best game bird that flies?" 

"Don't know as I do. What is it?" 

"W-well, on account that it's a jacksnipe, every 
time." 

"Why are they the best bird that flies?" I asked. 

"Because they're so gamy. Just see how they dart 
out from under your feet, s " (here George gave a 



CHIC AND I 161 

first-class imitation of the cry of the jacksnipe) "and 
away he goes zigzag, criss-cross, up an' down, an' 
you're a dandy if you hit him. And then take about a 
dozen of 'em, broil 'em carefully and tenderly before 
wood coals, but don't cook 'em too much, cut the breast 
open a little on each side and slip in a slice of butter, 
put on a little pepper and salt and— m-m-m— Yum! 
Yum! Yum!!" (George's recollections of gastronomical 
pleasures here proved too much for him and he closed 
his eyes and moved his head slowly from side to side 
in a way that grapliically expressed his total inability 
to do justice to the subject in words. 

"Yes," said Charlie, reflectively and profoundly, 
"jacksnipes are a mighty nice kind of game. Learn- 
ing to shoot jacks might well be called putting the 
finishing touches on a sportsman's education in the 
field. I consider jacksnipe shooting the acme of the 
sportsman's skill, and when a man gets so he can get 
four out of five of them, then a quail, duck or prairie 
chicken has got a mighty poor show with him. I've 
heard fellows tell how easy it was to shoot jacksnipes, 
and how they'd get so fat that they would break open 
like a big, heavy goose, when they fell. Of course if 
a bird gets as fat as that he's bound to be 'logy' and 
to fly slowly, but I never saw any of them like that. 
I've shot a good many jacksnipes and all I ever got 
I had to shoot as though I was out of meat in order 
to get them. As for eating— give me a jacksnipe every 
time." 

"Well, let's go and get some and not sit here talking 
about them," cried Ad., springing to his feet. He could 
not stand it any longer. 

"Do you know where there are any?'' I asked, hypo- 
critically. 

"Know where there are any?" queried Ad. derisively. 
"I should say I did! Oodles of 'em! Oodles, oodles of 
'em." 

Ad. was getting excited. When he said "oodles of 
'em" you might know that the number was beyond 



162 CHIC AND I 

computation. With that we all sprang to our feet. 
George's dissertation, coupled with his graphic de- 
scription of the mode of cooking them, and his ex- 
pressive pantomime conveying a faint idea of the de- 
lights of eating them, backed up by Charlie's remarks, 
had given us all a jacksnipe fever. I had never been 
very successful in shooting jacksnipes. I had had but 
one or two opportunities, and at those times I found 
myself constantly shooting "zig" just as the bird went 
"zag," and the result was always mortifying. To feel 
that you have shot about eight or ten feet behind the 
bird you thought you were going to hit is not very 
gratifying. With men in our situation it was the work 
of only a very few moments to get ready. We had 
only to throw on our shell coats, change our shells 
from sixes and fives to eights and nines, and there we 
were. It seems that Ad. and George had tramped over 
a good share of the marsliy ground heretofore described 
in going to and coming from their blinds, and where I 
had seen only one jacksnipe they had seen a great many 
—"oodles of 'em," as Ad. said. Having reached the 
ground, which was only a few rods from our camp, we 
deployed in such a way as to cover the most ground, 
and advanced upon our alert but unsuspecting victims. 
The first thing George's puppy Queen did was to 
straighten out on a fine point, and the first thing 
George's puppy King did was to rush in and flush the 
bird that Queen was pointing. Then there was music in 
the air. Queen was not to be outdone by King in that 
kind of style. Her royal blood was roused and she 
sailed in after King, and both dogs chased that jack- 
snipe as though their lives depended on catching it. 
As they ran, snipe after snipe arose from their path- 
way and flew off, protesting against the rude invasion. 
George roared at his dogs at the top of his voice; but 
thej' did not know him at all. He called, shouted and 
whistled, but all to no purpose. At last he sent a load 
of nines after King and caught him nicely. King 
tucked his tail between his legs and came sneaking 



CHIC AND I 163 

back. As he got within range of George's number 
nine boots his master swung one of them viciously in 
his direction; the dog dodged, George's foot slipped 
and he sat down in that soft mud and water with a 
splash that sent the dirt fljiug in every direction. Now 
he was in the same fix that I was. He couldn't get up 
without getting still more mud on himself. I surveyed 
my prostrate tormentor in delight. 

"Here, Kid, give me a hand," said he, stretching out 
one hand to me. 

I struck an attitude and mused: "On account o' ain't 
there some kind o' animal that likes to wallow in the 
mud? Give 'em nice, clean straw and they'll leave it 
and go out and roll in the mud. Ain't you a naturalist, 
George? Tell me what kind of an animal that is." 

George was mad clear through, but he couldn't help 
but laugh. 

"Come, quit that," he said, "and help me out of this." 

I relented, took his outstretched hand, and gave him a 
lift, and pulled him up, and then we were square. By 
this time Ad. and Charlie, off to our right, were hav- 
ing splendid shooting. Dee was pointing in fine style, 
the boys were shooting well and Trixy was in his glory 
retrieving. George and I had hardly got out of the 
mess just described when a jacksnipe got up just in 
front of me and went corkscrewing away, rasping out 
that defiant call of his. As usual I shot two large, sol- 
emn holes in the- atmosphere at each side of my fleeing 
tormentor, and then felt like kicking myself. 

"Hold on. Kid," exclaimed George. "That won't do. 
Those fellows will have four birds to our one if you 
keep on shooting that Avay." 

"I know it," said I, "but what of it? I never could 
iiit these fellows, anyway." 

"They're just as easy to hit as any other bird if you 
liold right on 'em," replied George. 

"Oh, yes," I replied, sarcastically, "if a fellow always 
held right he'd never miss at all." 

"Yes, but let me tell you. Now there's plenty of 



164 CHIC AND I 

birds here and the next one that gets up we won't 
either of us shoot at it; but you just watch it and no- 
tice how it flies." 

"All right," said I. 

In a few minutes a bird got out almost under our 
feet. There was an instinctive motion of George's 
gun and then his arm dropped again. We watched the 
bird until he settled. 

"Now," said George, "on account o' what did you 
see?" 

"What did I see? Wliy, I saw a bird flying on the 
line of a rail fence and going like a streak." 

"Yes, but didn't you notice that when that bird got 
about twenty-flve yards away he quit corkscrewin' and 
flew straight away?" 

"By George, I didn't notice that, but now tliat you 
mention it I remember that that is what he did." 

"Well," said George, "all you've got to do is to be a 
little patient. Hold your fire until the bird settles down 
and then give it to him. The shots are a little long, 
some of them, but otherwise they are no harder than 
on any other bird. We are going across wind, too. 
We'd better swing around and go down the wind. You 
see, a snipe, like all water birds, always rises against 
the wind. If we hunt down the wind then the snipe 
sees us coming, but in order to fly he has got to fly 
straight toward us for a little distance. On account 
that he hates to do this he will lie there a great deal 
longer than he will if we are approaching from any 
other direction and we will not get such long shots. 
Another thing, when the bird has the wind at its back 
he does not corkscrew so much as when he is going 
against it. That corkscrewing is the same as a ship 
tacking on the water; he does it to avoid going dead 
in the teeth of the wind. Now the next bird that gets 
up, don't you shoot at it at all. Just watch me. On 
account of I may not hit it, but I can show you how 
it ought to be done. You know lots of times it's a 



CIIIC AND I 165 

whole lot easier to show a fellow how a thing ought 
to be done than it is to do it yourself." 

It was only a moment before a bird got out a little 
to George's left. He went corkscrewing away, and 
when about twenty-five or thirty yards dist^int he set- 
tled down into a straightaway, just as George had said. 
He had liardly settled into his steady flight when 
George's gun cracked and the snipe fell all in a heap, 
killed dead in the air. 

"See?" inquired George. 

I saw. 

"It seems very strange," I remarked, "tliat I never 
thought of that before." 

"Nothing strange about it," replied George. "You're 
simply like everyone else that shoots jacksnipes. The 
very cry of the bird has something aggravating about 
it. And then it gets up so boldly, goes off with such a 
swagger and such a challenging, defiant cry, that a 
fellow naturally gets in a hurry to put the gun on him 
and pull the trigger. Evei-yone has to learn. A be- 
ginner will naturally shoot quicker at a jacksnipe than 
at any other bird, while he should do quite the con- 
trary; that is, he should wait longer than on almost 
any other bird. Now the next one that gets up, you 
take him. Don't be afraid of his getting too far away 
for your gun; that little gun of yours will get 'em when 
they're clear out of sight, if you point it right." 

While we had been talking Chic had retrieved the 
bird that George shot and brought it to us. As we 
moved on a bird got out from in front of me and went 
away slightly quartering to my right. Then I found 
out the truth of what George had been saying. I had 
been shooting too quickly before. Two or three times 
my finger twitched and it was all that I could do to 
keep from shooting; but finally the bird settled down 
into his steady fiight, I pressed the trigger, and at the 
report of my gun the bird went down, all in a heap, 

"Good shot, Kid," cried George, encouragingly. "On 



166 



CHIC AND I 



account of that I knowed you could do it all right if 
someone would only just put you on." 

With that we separated a little and began shooting 
in earnest. In a moment George shot another bird and 
I sent Chic to retrieve it. She found the bird, handled 
it daintily and tenderly, and brought it to me. 




*' TAKE IT TO niM I " 

"Take it to him," said I, motioning to George. 

She looked at me and then looked at George. 

"Take it to him," said I, repeating the motion. She 
started and ran to George with the bird, but stopped a 
few feet from him and again looked around at me. 

"Call her, George," said I. At the same time I re- 
peated the command and motion. 

"Fetch, Chic," said George, holding out his hand. 

Chic gave him the bird with evident reluctance and 
looked around at me with drooping ears and tail, as 



CHIC AND I 167 

though she feared she had done wrong. I motioned her 
to me and petted her and praised her a little. At the 
first opportunity this was repeated until Chic would 
take the bird to George without hesitation, upon being 
commanded to do so. I think she soon learned the 
difference between his birds and mine, too, for when I 
shot a bird and told her to retrieve it she would go 
and get it and bring it back at once without waiting 
to be beckoned in or told to "fetch" after she had the 
bird in her mouth; but when George shot the bird and 
she was told to retrieve, she would run for the bird, 
take it in her mouth and then look around at me in- 
quiringly and wait for the motion before she took it to 
George. 

The sun was getting low in the west when we, tired, 
wet and bedraggled with mud, struggled into camp. 
We drew our birds, cleaned our guns, had supper and 
?at around smoking before bedtime. I looked at the 
big heap of game and felt conscience-stricken that we 
had killed so many birds that we had no use for. 

"What shall we do with our birds, boys?" I asked. 

"Blamed if I know," answered Ad. "We can't eat 
them all." 

"It's a shame to kill so many birds when we have no 
use for them," said I. 

"I think so, too," said George. "It does seem a shame 
to take the life of that we cannot give back, just for 
the fun of the thing, don't it?" 

"After this let's Qot shoot so many," suggested Char- 
lie. 

To this we all agreed, but that did not solve the 
problem of what to do with those we had already shot. 
I'^iually George inquired: 

"On account o' that wine we got from the ranch— 
that's all gone, ain't it?" (We told him it was.) "Well, 
on account o' that's pretty good wine, don't you think?" 

AVe all thought so. 

"^^'ell," continued George, "on account of wliat's 
tlie matter with having Solomon take these birds down 



168 CHIC AND I 

to Hill's tomorrow? We can tie them up in separate 
bunches and mark 'em for our friends in town. By get- 
ting an early start Solomon can get down to the ranch 
before the stage goes by and can throw them on the 
stage and they'll get to town by night and will be all 
right. If we keep them here they'll spoil before wo 
can use 'em. And then, while he's there, Solomon 
can fill up the demijohn again." 

"On account that there's that other demijolm that 
we brought along for water," said Ad., "we're so near 
this spring tiiat we don't need it, and two demijohns 
will balance better than one. "Yes," he argued, as ho 
saw us all smile, "you S(>e he can tie them together 
with a sliort rope and throw them over the back of the 
burro and come along as easy as you please." 

George never said a word, but got up and patted 
Ad. on the shoulder. So it was agreed, and we began 
sorting out the birds into bunches and tying them to- 
gether with a card on each bunch, bearing the name 
of some friend in town. This done we prepared to turn 
in for the night. At this juncture Solomon was seen 
going around with his blanket over his shoulder look- 
ing anxiously on the ground, as though he had lost 
something. 

"What are you looking for, Solomon?" inquired Char- 
lie. 

"Well, Mistah G— , to tell de truf, I's lookin' for 
another ant's nest," said Solomon, with a broad grin. 

George had a way of winking, during which operation 
he would draw his mouth around in the most incon- 
ceivable position and contort his face in a terrible man- 
ner. It was equivalent to saying: "That's a good shot I 
Did you hear it?" As apothecary to the party and 
Great Keeper of the Medicine Chest, he knew that 
this hint was meant for him, and he said, meditatively: 
"Anyone that wouldn't take a hint like that wouldt't 
take a tumble if a load of No. 1 shot were put clea* 
through him," and he produced the medicine. 



CHAPTER XX 

Camp-Fire Stories. 

Ad. did the cooking the next day, while I acted ft><i 
second cook. George looked after the burros and dog«, 
while Charlie was general adviser and provider for the 
camp. He had a snap! Solomon took his departure 
early in the morning, and we were left to run the camp 
without his valuable assistance. The day passed quiet- 
ly and without incident. Supper had been disposed of 
and we were sitting around our bright campfire enjoy- 
ing our pipes, when the conversation turned upon rail- 
road wrecks. 

"Were you ever in a wreck, Greorge?" asked I. 

"Was I ever in a wreck?" replied he, scornfully. 
"Was I ever in a wreck? AY ell I should say I was in a 
wreck! On account o' that time me an' my wife went 
back to Pennsylvania on a visit, you remember, an' 
when we was comin' back we had the worst imitation 
of a wreck that you ever saw. AA e were comin' through 
Kansas an' it was jest gittin' gray in the morning, I 
was a sleepin' about forty knots an hour, an' a tearin' 
calico to beat the band. All of a sudden the car com- 
menced to go rippity-rap, thumppitj^-thump, ku-chug, 
ku-chug, an' I kind o' thought somethin' was wrong, so 
I partly w^oke up. I found myself going right up in 
the air, and when I got about half way to the top of 
the car I met my wife comin' down. We come down 
together and was all mixed up for about a second, then 
I rolled out of the berth onto the floor. 1 hadn't more'n 
struck the floor when a big, fat fellow roiled out of the 
berth on tlie opposite side of the caj* and come down 



170 OSIG AND I 

right on top of me. Was I ever in a wreck? 1 thought 
I was wrecked beyond redemption then, sure! Then a 
woman in the next berth found out that something had 
happened and you ought to 'a' heard her screech! I 
never heard nothing like it! She rushed out of her 
berth with a corset in one hand and a shoe in the other, 
an' left her gold watch an' all lier jewelry an' other 
clothes in the berth, an' started for the door. But that 
fat man was in the way, as fat men always are,'* con- 
tinued George, with a severe look in my direction, "an' 
you ought to have seen that woman bowl him over! 
Well, we finally got out o' the car and found there 
wasn't anybody hurt very much, but that things were 
pretty badly mixed up. We had to wait quite a long 
while for the wrecking car to come and straighten us 
out, and I was standing around looking things over, 
when a green, gawky-looking fellow, about nineteen or 
twenty years old, come along and stopped by me and 
said: 

" 'Had an accident?.' 

"There was one car standin' right across the track 
an' two cars lyin' on their sides, an' when the fellow 
asked me that question I just looked at him and said: 

" 'No, we hadn't had no accident.' 

" 'What's the matter then?' said he. 

" 'Well, you see, on account o' there's a scientific party 
of fellows on board, the engineer jest wanted to show 
'em what he could do with an engine without hurtin' 
no one. See?' 

"The fellow kind o' looked at me as though he didn't 
know whether to believe me or not. Jest then I looked 
over toward the horizon and my blood commenced to 
dance right away; my trigger finger commenced 
a-workin' and I couldn't hardly stay there. There com- 
ing right for us, was the biggest band o' ducks you ever 
saw. 

" 'Wasn't they nobody hurt?' said he. 

" 'Where does the ducks come from?' said I. 

" 'Over on the lake,' said he. 'How did it happen?' 



CITIC AND I 171 

" 'Where tbey goin' to?' said I. 

" 'Down to the river to feed,' said he. 'What time 
did it happen?' 

" 'Do they fly like this all the time?' said I, for they 
kept a-comin'. 

" 'Most of the time,' said he. 'Which car was you in?' 

" 'Say,' said I, 'how far is it where them birds is 
g>oin'? What do they feed on there? Is there any 
good blinds? Are thc^y shot at much? Do the fellows 
around here hunt any? Have you got a gun? Have 
you got a dog? 'Spose we could git some o' those fel- 
lows before they fix up these cars ?' 

"Well, sir, would you believe iiti, that there fellow was 
so interested in them dum cars that when I fired a 
string of questions at him he jest looked at me as 
though he thought I was crazy, and walked off. Well, 
I was pretty near crazy, for to see so many old mallards 
and not be able to get a shot at them was enough to 
make anyone almost crazy. On account o' that's the 
only wreck I was ever in, an' that's enough," concluded 
George, as he addressed himself assiduously to his pipe, 
which had nearly gone out from lack of attention dur- 
ing his narrative. 

"Do you remember that W— P— ? asked Ad. of 
George. George replied, between whiffs, that he did. 

"Well," said Ad., "one time him and me were out 
hunting down toward Chula Vista. We had been way 
out beyond there and had had pretty fair luck and 
were on our way home. It was pretty late and none 
too light. Our old horse seemed to have a decided 
objection to the road and kept wandering out of it all 
the time. It was along about nine o'clock in the 
evening, and it began to rain and was as dark as a 
stack o' black cats. There wasn't any fence along there 
aiuid we couldn't see the road, and had to let the old 
horse go wherever he would. All of a sudden he 
stopped. We urged and urged him, but it was no use. 
He wouldn't budge another step. So I got out to see 
what was the matter. I felt my way along his side un- 



172 CHIC AND I 

til I got to his head. I felt of the harness, and every- 
thing seemed to be all right. Then I struck out to go 
around his head to the other side of bim to finish my 
examination, and what do you think? I didn't do a 
thing but drop off a bank about ten feet high and light 
in the nice, soft mud at the bottom. The old horse 
had come right up to the edge of a deep ditch and had 
stopped there. Well, I was nicely covered with mud 
and slime, I tell you, and had a few cactus thorns in 
different parts of my body besides. P— sat there in 
the wagon with the rain pouring down on him. In 
that situation a fellow is not vei'y apt to be patient. 
Pretty soon he called me. X never said a word. He 
called three or four times, and I didn't answer him at 
all. Then I heard him climbing out of tlie wagon. He 
came feeling along the side of the horse, same as I did, 
and I moved over a little to one side. I hadn't any 
more'n got out o' the way before here he come! He 
wasn't as lucky as I was. I lit on my feet, but he lit 
on his back and hands. I burst out laughing and I 
never saw a madder fellow in my life. 

"'Why didn't you tell me?' said he. 

" 'What did I want to tell you for?' said I. 'No 
worse for you than it is for me, is it?' 

" 'You fool!' said he, 'I'll get even with you for this.* 

" 'Humph!' said I, 'we're even now,' and I only 
laughed the harder. 

"Well, we climbed back up that ditch, took our 
blankets out of the wagon, took out what gunny sacks 
we had, turned the old house loose, and crawled under 
the wagon and made the best of a bad night. In the 
morning we got up and found that blasted road not 
more than fifteen yards from us." 

"On account o' I must tell one on the Kid," ex- 
claimed George, knocking the ashes out of his pipe as 
he spoke. I knew what was coming and prepared my- 
self resignedly to listen to the exaggerated tale. "On 
account o' one time we was up to McKinnon's hunting 
ducks. We had a good blind out in the slough and was 



CHIC AST) t 173 

haviii' pretty fair shooting; but along through the mid- 
dle of the day you know they don't come in very much. 
So along about noon we went up to the house. We had 
got out pretty early that mornin' an' had fei'ocious ap- 
petites. I was pretty hungry myself. On account of 
that, Mrs. McKinnon (she's one o' the best cooks you 
ever saw and she can git things up to the queen's taste). 
Well, that day she had chicken with dumplings. Nice, 
rich gravy that the Kid's so fond of, boiled potatoes 
and a lot of other things, but the Kid didn't take any 
notice of anything but them dumplings. One after an- 
other the folks excused themselves an' left the table, 
till they was nobody left but the Kid an' me. I tried 
my best to keep up with him, but it was no go. He had 
eaten jest tliirteen o' them big dumplin's Avith lots of 
gravy, chicken, potatoes and other truck, an' there was 
jest one dumplin' left. The Kid heaved a long breath, 
shoved back his chair, looked at that there dumplin* 
kind o' longin'-like, and lookin' at me, he said: 

*' 'Be we goin' far this afternoon?' 

" 'No,' says I, laughin', jest down to the blind,' and 
the Kid pulled up his chair and tackled that other 
dumplin'." 

Then Geoi-ge looked around at me, grinned and 
drawled out: "Be we goin' fa-a-ar?" in a manner that 
was irresistible, and I couldn't help joining in the laugh. 
George started that story with six dumplings. He 
has got it up to twenty now, and the only limit is the 
credulity of his hearers. But I like to hear him tell the 
story as well as anyone else. It does him lots of good 
and does me no harm — for everyone knows George! 

When the laugh had subsided I asked: 

"How about those cranes, George?" 

I was purely malicious in this, for everyone had heard 
that crane story, and up to that date no one had been 
found who believed it. George thoroughly believed it 
himself, however, for he had told it so many times that 
he thought it must be true. 

"Oh, yes," said he, "on account o' I never told you 



174 CHIG AND I 

that story, did I? Well, you see, oiie time I was up to 
San' Marguerite after geese. I had seen lots of cranes 
flying around and, although they ain't much good to 
eat, I took a notion I wanted one or two. They are 
mighty hard birds to get. They are shy of the best 
kind of a blind and will not answer the very best imita- 
tion of their call. I have seen them decoy to goose de- 
coys once or twice, but they can't be depended upon 
to decoy to the very best crane decoys. And fight! Did 
you ever hear of how them things could fight? On ac- 
count of if some fellow had a good bulldog that he 
thought nothing could lick I'd jest like to make him a 
bet on it and go out and get a crippled crane down and 
see which'd lick! They'll tackle a man, too. Well, as 
I was sayin', I took a notion I wanted a crane. So I 
went out to where they had been fiying around the 
evening before. I didn't Know whether they would 
come to the same place again or not, but I had to take 
my chances. I set around there a while and waited. 
Pretty soon I heard a *cu-r-r-r-r-o-o-o,' and I looked 
around and saw 'em comin'. There was a long string 
of 'em, and I hadn't no sooner spied 'em than I heard 
a call in another direction and looked around and see 
another band a-comin'. Pretty soon another band 
came in, and then another, and another. They was 
jest fillin' the air full o' themselves, but fliey wouldn't 
none of 'em come near enough to give me a shot. It 
was getting along toward dark. I had tried blinds, 
tried lying down on my back, and finally I hunted up a 
little hollow and got into that, face down, and waited. 
Of course the birds nearest me saw me get into it and 
they would not come near, but there were new ones 
coming in all the time, and I hoped to get a shot at them. 
I waited and waited. Their call is very deceptive and 
you ai-e sure to think that t-ey are a great deal nearer 
than they are. I didn't dare move my head, so I just 
laid there and listened. When I thought by the sound 
that some of them were near enough, I would jump up 
ready to shoot, but they were too far away each time. 



CHIC AND I 175 

There was no other fresh water anywhere near there, 
and so they kept circling around there. After I had 
laid there a long time— seemed to me like about two 
hours— jest as it was getting about dark enough to give 
up, a new band come swinging in calling and hollering. 
I waited and almost held my breath, for they were com- 
ing right over me. At last they were near enough. Up 
I jumped and gave them both barrels. I killed one 
dead with the first barrel and winged one with the 
second. I had Dukie with me and I sent him after that 
cripple. Dukie was a pretty good fighter and pretty 
gamy. He tackled that there crane, and the first thing 
old crane did was to just sink that there sharp bill of 
his about an inch into Dukie's back. Dukie let a yell 
out of him, but he went at him again all right. The 
crane kept a ti-ying for Dukie's eyes, and finally gave 
Dukie a rap on the side of the head that jest missed 
his eye and sent him a roUin.' That was enough for 
Dukie, and you ought to have seen him fill the air full 
of himself gettin' out of there. Then I went for the 
cripple myself. I had no more than got started when 
I noticed the cranes coming around again, and coming 
lower and lower. The cripple was about seventy yards 
from me by this time, foi* in his fight with the dog he 
kept getting farther away, and the other cranes came 
and hovered right over h'.m, filling the air with their 
musical cry. As I came up they shied off a bit, but 
didn't seem to be very much afraid. When I got up 
tc> the cripple they were right over me and I let go two 
barrels at them. I brought down more birds than I had 
calculated on. The two birds I shot at fell dead, but all 
the rest of them— and I think there must have been a 
thousand — with a peculiar, angi'y cry, swooped right 
at me. I was so surprised that I didn't have time to 
load my gun, and I jest clubbed my gun an' give it to 
'em." (Here there was a gentle snore, but George 
didn't hear it, and continued:) "They kept a comin' and 
I kept a swingin' that gun and knockin' 'em right and 
left, but they came faster than I could kiiiock 'em down. 



1?6 



CHIC AND I 



Pretty soon I began to get tired and wanted to get away 
from there. At first I thought it was fun and I was 
having a great time with them, but now it began to 
get serious. My arms got weaker an' weaker, an' they 
kept crowding closer an' closer tO' my eyes until finally 
I had to drop the gun and jest keep them off with my 




THEY COMMENCED DRIVING AT MY HEAD AND EARS." 

hands. I kept this up .or a time and then I fell flat on 
the ground on my face with my hands over my eyes to 
protect them. On account of maybe y^ni think them 
there cranes didn't have a picnic with me then. They 
jest danced a hornpipe all over my back and drove 
them bills of theirn into the sofest pn.rts they could 
find, an' cu-r-r-r-o-o-o'd and hollered as though they 



CHIC AND I 177 

was celebratiii' some great victory. When they com- 
inenced driving at my head and ears I thought it was 
all up with me and that they would kill me sure. I 
tried to holler, but I didn't have breath enough left. 
How long this lasted I don't know, but I thought it was 
hours. At last one big fellow drove his bill into the 
back of my head and I gave a yell that would have 
startled a ghost. Every bird went right up into the 
air! I could hardly believe my good luck! I peeped 
out fnmi between my fingers and saw them circling a 
few feet above my head. I gathered my wind and gave 
another roar and they went higher yet. Then I jumped 
to my feet and waved my liands in the air, and jumped, 
and danced, and shouted as loud as I could, and you 
ought to have seen them cranes get out of there! On 
account of there ain't nothing that will frighten a wild 
bird or animal so quick as the sound of the human 
voice. Did you know that, Kid?" 

Here he heard a suspicious sound as of a human voice, 
and paused. Looking at the recumbent forms of our 
two companions, and listening to the undoubted snores 
that proceeded from them, a look of pained embarrass- 
ment flitted across George's face, and he said: 

"On account of ihem fellows don't believe that yarn, 
do they?" 

"No, I guess they don't, George," said I, "but I be- 
lieve it." 

Then we fixed up the fire a little and turned in. 

Solomon returned next day with the two demijohns of 
wine. One of them was not quite full, but Solomon was, 
and his clothing bore evidence of desperate battles with 
manzanita bushes, jagged rocks and other obstructions 
to his pathway. Anothe:* week was passed in this de- 
lightful camp, a week over which I would love to linger, 
but the object of this work will not permit, and then 
we packed our goods and I'eturned to our homes. 



CHAPTER XXI 

A Change of Base^ 

Times had cliaiiged in San Diego. Tlie great "boom" 
had come and gone, leaving many wrecl^ed fortunes 
behind it. From a city of fullj' thirty thousand souls 
San Diego had shrunk to about sixteen tliousand. Busi- 
ness continued growing more and more dull. One after 
another, many of my friends and acquaintances con- 
cluded that they could do better elsewhere and re- 
luctantly turned their backs on the "City of Bay'n' 
Climate." 1 thought the matter over many months 
before I could make up my mind to leave the little 
city by the sea; the place where 3 had spent so many 
liappj^ hours, where I was acquainted with every bush 
and stone, and where each familiar street and corner 
suggested memories of unalloyed pleasures. But busi- 
ness is business, and is very cold-blooded at that, and 
I at last concluded that I could make more money 
somewhere else than I could in San Diego. Having 
thought the matter over for some time, I finally con- 
cluded to try some place in some of our growing West- 
ern states, for I Avas still young enough to "grow up 
with the country." 

Having settled up all my matters in San Diego and 
bid good-bye to a few of my most intimate friends, one 
morning at eight o'clock saw the train pulling out of 
the San Diego depot on the Santa Fe Railroad with 
the writer occupying a place in the Pullman. My 
ticket called for Denver, and where I should go after 
that I had no very well defined idea. Chic was in tlie 
baggage car. Flattery, bribery and all blandishments of 



CHIC AND I 179 

which I was capable had failed in the effort to smug- 
gle her into the car with me. She wouldn't have done 
any more harm there than anybody else, and I know 
she would not have kept the whole car awake as some 
of the babies did. But it was no use; into the baggage- 
car she had to go, I had no trouble with the baggage- 
man. The road allowed him a rate of one-quarter of a 
cent a mile and I paid it. I did not give him a chance 
to demand any more, nor did I offer him any less. 
Before the train started I found out the length of his 
run and had the exact change ready for him. I pur- 
sued this policy with all the baggagemen I encoun- 
tered and had no trouble with any of them; quite the 
contrary, in fact, for I found them all very friendly 
and accommodating. I took my meals on the train, 
and when we came to an eating station I took Chic 
out for a run. The Santa Fe did not then run dining- 
cars, but they had a buffet most of the time. When I 
had to take my meals at the eating houses I always 
found someone to lead Chic with the chain while I 
snatched a hurried lunch and then went out and took 
off the chain and let her run. Now I think I hear 
someone exclaim: "What! Did you take off the chain 
and let her run around in those perfectly strange 
places where you had to get her aboard the car at a 
minute's notice?" That is just what I did. But I 
always compared my watch with the conductor's just 
as we arrived at the station, and got the exact leaving 
time from him. Of course I did not let Chic run far 
out of my sight, and about one minute before leaving 
time I would whistle to her and, motioning toward the 
open door of the baggage-car, for it was in June, would 
command her to jump. Sometimes as she came up on 
a run she would go sailing in; sometimes, when the 
ground was a little low, she could not quite make it 
and then I had to help her. But she got plenty of 
exercise in that way and made the long trip with- 
out inconvenience. The baggagemen all fell in love 
with her because she jnade no dirt or trouble. Chic 



180 CHIG AND I 

developed quite a fondness for railroading, and to this 
day, when around a train, will run to the door of the 
baggage-ear and beg to be let in. From Denver I went 
to a small town in one of the Western prairie states, 
which for convenience I will call A—. I had no in- 
tention of staying there when I arrived, but was just 
looking around. Circumstances were such that, after 
a couple of weeks' prospecting, I concluded to try it 
anyway. I could at least get i^ome good hunting there, 
and if I did not like it after a year's trial, I could go 
somewhere else. So I unpacked my goods, bought 
some furniture, opened an ottice, and prepared for 
business by— loading up one hundred shells! As I have 
said, it was in June, and there was, of course, not much 
shooting at that time of the year. The open season on 
pinnated grouse began September 1, and on quails 
October 1. There was no close season on ducks, geese, 
snipes or waterfowl of any description. I had been 
using nitro powder for some time, but the particular 
brand which I had been using, and which in all other 
respects I liked very much, soiled my gun so much that 
I made up my mind to make a change. I did not know 
to just which brand of nitro powder I should pin my 
faith, although I was satisfied of one thing at least, 
and that was that it should be an American-made 
nitro, for with all the nitro powders made in this coun- 
try it seemed to me very strange if not one could be 
found that would be fully as good, if not better, than 
any foreign-made article. I had shot all the leading 
nitros at different times, in a cursory fashion, but had 
never endeavored systematically to discover which one 
was the best adapted to my gun, and which was the 
pleasantest to shoot. In order, if possible, to ascertain 
these facts, I took four of the leading nitros and made 
up twenty different loads of each powder with different 
shot and powder charges, different styles of wadding, 
but all in the Smokeless shell. I believed the Smoke- 
less shell, with its strong primer, to be the best shell 
in the market for nitro powder. I loaded five each of 



CHIC AND I 181 

the twenty different loads of each powder and then 
targeted my shells. I used a tweuty-four-inch circle 
at forty yards and used cardboards, four-ply bristol, 
set one incli apart, for penetration. After targeting 
the loads I took the average of each set of five loads 
as the result of that particular load. I then compared 
these averages. I found it not at all difficult to arrive 
at a conclusion, although all of the powders had done 
exceedingly Avell. Some of them seemed to give a little 
better pentration than others, while others again 
seemed to excel in pattern. After considering pattern, 
penetration, recoil, report, soiling of gun ban-els, diffi- 
culty of cleaning gun after using, and probability of 
pitting barrels, I adopted the American E. C. powder, 
and I have never had occasion to regret my choice. It 
is a nice, light, clean powder; requires no particular 
experience to load, and gives most gratifying results. 
It is also very regular, each can being the exact coun- 
terpart of every other can in both weight and bulk. 
Many powders give excellent satisfaction when first 
used, but the very next purchase is liable to prove 
much stronger, or weaker, than the first, producing an 
irregularity of pattern and penetration which is very 
exasperating. Such crude experiments as I was able 
to make at a neighboring drug store, with the assist- 
ance of the druggist, convinced me that the powder 
was practically chemically pure and that there would 
therefore be very little danger, with ordinary care, of 
its pitting the gun barrels. I subjected it to all the 
crude tests for the effect of moisture and dryness that 
I could think of, and found it to stand them all with 
better general results than any of the other powders. 
I have used tliis powder ever since with unvarying 
success and gratification, and am convinced that it is 
all that the manufacturers claim for it. Of the four 
best shots in town one still clung to black powder, 
while the other three each used a different kind of 
nitro powder. Many a tough argument was had about 
the merits of our favorite brands of powder, but I wag 



182 CHIC AND I 

the only one who had ever conducted any regular ex- 
periments with any of the powders and therefore gen- 
erally had the best of the argument. One day one of 
the boys dropped into the othce and we, as usual, soon 
began talking about guns, powders, etc. The subject 
finally turned upon the powder I was using, and he 
asked me how I loaned it, I told him I was a strong 
advocate of a judicious combination of hard and soft 
wads. I had experimented considerably on that sub- 
ject and believed that the above combination gave 
better general results than either hard or soft wadding 
used alone. . 
"What wadding do you use?" he asked. 
"For quail shooting 1 use two and three-quarters 
drams of powder and three blackedge or pinkedge 
wads, with one ounce of number eight shot. These 
wads give a little more even pattern than the softer 
wads, and the load is so light there is no recoil any- 
way. Besides that, the shooting is all done at such 
close range that the highest degree of penetration is 
not required. The three blackedge wads are about the 
cheapest wadding that can be used with any certainty 
of good results. For prairie chickens early in the sea- 
son I use the same load as for quails. Later on, how- 
ever, when the birds are older, wearier, flush wilder 
and fly faster, I use three drams of powder, one card- 
board wad, one pinkedge or blackedge, and one U. M. C. 
white felt." 
"What difference does the white felt make?" 
"It gives better penetration and lessens the recoil. 
It is soft and springy and acts like a cushion for a 
heavy charge. From my experiments I have arrived 
at the conclusion that the soft wads give the better 
penetration, the hard wads give the better pattern, 
and the best general results are obtained from a com- 
bination of the two." 
"Do you ram this powder very much in loading?" 
"No, not this powder. Here is my rammer, or loader. 
You see it is a brass tube filled with lead and has a 



CHIC AND I 183 

wooden head. Well, I send the wads well home with 
this rammer and give them a light tap with a mallet 
to be sure that they are well and horizontally seated. 
No pounding is necessary." 

"How do you load for ducks?" 

"For teal ducks I load about the same as for quails, 
except that I use number seven sliot instead of eights 
or nines. For mallards or canvas-backs exclusively, I 
should load as heavily as for geese, exceiit that I 
should use numbei- five or number six shot instead of 
twos, which I invariably use for geese. For geese I 
use three and one-half drams of powder, one cardboard, 
one pinkedge and one white felt wad— all same gauge 
as the gun— placed evenly in the shell and sent home 
Avith a good, hard hand pressure, followed by a very 
liglit tap with the mallet. For mixed duck sliooting 
I use tli.ree to three and one-quarter drams of powder, 
wadded as for geese, with one and one-eighth ounces 
of number six shot. Always use chilled shot with nitro 
powder. Never uise brajSis shells." 

"Why not use brass shells?" 

"Because you can't crimp them and. with nitro pow- 
ders, the crimp is a very important feature. Leave 
at least a quarter of an incli for the cnmp." 

"And you still insist that the American E. C. is the 
best nitro powder in tlie market to-day, do you?" 

"The best American-made nitro. I know nothing 
about the foreign makes. When we get into the field 
this Fall I'll let you use some of my sihells. When you 
see how they'll reach out and bring in an old honker at 
sixty yards or more, you'll be converted, too." 

It seemed to me as though the first of September 
would never come. I was very anxious to get at 
those prairie cliickens that the boys told me were so 
plentiful tliereabout. In the meantime I did not let 
Chic forget her former teaching. Nearly every even- 
ing I took her down to the lake for a nm. After exer- 
cising her in the field, practicing her with the whistle, 
quartering, tohoing, retrieving, etc., I would go to the 



184 CHIC AND I 

lake and throw sticks in the water for GMc to bring 
out. During this period she contracted the eczema. 
After trying several remedies I wrote to the ever-re- 
liable American Field and the editor advised a 
prescription of oil of tar, fishoil, and sulphurous acid, 
wliich worked to a charm. The proportions were oil 
of tar four ounces, fishoil one pint, sulphurous acid two 
ounces; mix and apply thoroughly every day for one 
week; then wash it off with a good castile soap. After 
one week repeat the treatment. It is not very pleasant 
to use and does not resemble the odor of cologne in 
the least, but it is eflicacious. One evening while Ohic 
was undergoing this treatment I took her out for a 
little exercise. She was a general favorite in the town, 
and, as she had been shut up for several days, she 
was very glad to see her friends again. I tried in vain 
to keep her away from people, but they would call her, 
but they did not keep her long! Several of her friends 
went liome tliat night witli fishoil on their hands and 
garments. A few weeks after this I discovered that 
she was covered with fleas. A friend of mine recom- 
mended creoline, one part to four of water, and I used 
that. Well, the proverbial dog that has been treated 
with turpentine cruelly applied by some mischievous 
small boy could not have excelled Chic in running. 
I didn't kno'w whether she would ever come back or 
not. I ran back to the drug store and got the bottle 
with the creoline and looked at the directions. They 
read to use one part of creoline to forty of water, in- 
stead of four! Perliaps I didn't give that di-uggist fits! 
I ran back and lassoed Chic, threw her in a tub of 
water and went at her with soap and a brush and 
got most of the stuff off, but her skin was tender for 
several days. It killed the fleas! 

Chic seemed to have a penchant for getting into 
trouble that Summer. Not long after the flea episode 
I was petting her one day and discovered a curious 
kind of insect on my sleeve. I ajsked one of the boys 
what that was, and was informed that it was a louse! 



CHIC AND I 185 

Here was more trouble. An inspection showed me that 
she was covered with them and her hair was also full 
of nits. Again I resorted to tlie creoline, but not one 
part to four. I put a half ounce of creoline in an eight- 
ounce bottle and filled it up with water. I found that 
at this strength it was very effective and that there 
were no unpleasant results. It is not offensive and 
does not stain, and in this respect is far superior to 
some other remedies. I can heartily recommend it for 
destroying noxious insects, or for use in and around 
the kennel. 



CHAPTER XXII 

Pinnated Grouse, 

About the first of August the boys began to go out 
after the pinnated grouse, commonly called prairie 
chickens. My friend Tim, who had come there from 
San Diego, and I argued in vain in support of the 
game laws. The season did not open until September 
1, and we tried every kind of argument and moral 
suasion to induce the shooters to wait. On every 
hand we received the reply: "I won't be the first to 
go out, but as soon as I hear of anyone else getting 
'em, you'll see me out after 'em, too. 1 don't propose 
to sit around here and let the other fellows get the 
cream of the shooting and leave nothing but old, 
tough birds for me." It must be admitted that there 
is a great deal of justice in the argument. Neverthe- 
less, Tim and I agreed to wait until the first of Sep- 
tember and see if our example would have any effect. 
I do not know whether it did or not; I know that a 
great many birds were killed before the season opened 
and, if I had it to do over again, I am not certain 
that I would endeavor to make an example of myself 
to the extent of my own martyrdom. No excuse can 
be found for a willful lawbreaker, yet it is almost 
more than can be expected of poor human nature to 
ask one to sit tamely by and see othea-s reaping the 
benefit of your own inaction, and laughing at you for 
your pains. Especially is this true when it is well 
known that the law can be broken with impunity, 
for, where all are in the same boat, no one dares 
inform. But this year Tim and I did not go out until 



CHIC AND I 187 

September 1; I did not hear any of the other hunters 
say the same thing-. 

The latter part of August a young friend of mine 
and 1 went out late one afternoon. We took no gun 
with us, but we took Chic along to see how she would 
work on this new game. It was a beautiful afternoon, 
but it was bad weather for a dog. It had been hot 
and dry for a long time and was hot on this particular 
afternoon. But my friend said he knew where there 
were some birds, and so we went out to give Chic au 
introduction to this new scent. She was then about 
fifteen months old and still a puppy. About two miles 
out of town we put her out and let her range at will. 
As we drove leisurely along, talking of the coming 
sport with chickens, ducks and geese, we suddenly 
heard a whir of wings and looked around in time to 
see about twenty prairie chickens, of all sizes, whiz- 
zing away in all directions. Right in the center of 
the place from which they had undoubtedly sprung, 
stood Chic, the most astonished and eager looking 
puppy I ever saw. To add to her bewilderment and 
excitement, a bunch of quails, undoubtedly startled 
by the flushing of the prairie chickens, went into the 
air about fifteen yards from her. I jumped out of the 
buggy and ran over, but I might as well have stayed 
where I was. I ought to have had my eye on the dog 
every minute, so I could have told whether she stood 
the birds at all or not, but of course the flush occuiTed 
just at the particular moment when I happened to 
be looking some other way. From her position and 
the flight of the birds, it was evident she was very 
close to them when they flushed, right in the middle 
of them, as it were. Now, what was to be done in a 
case of this kind? Should the dog be punished for 
flushing the birds? I looked at the matter in this 
way. The ground was very dry and the scent un- 
doubtedly ver^^ light and indistinct; it was a hot day 
and almost entirely without breeze of any kind; the 
scent was a new one to her and probably altogether 



1S8 CHIC AND i 

different from the California quails on which she had 
been trained. More than all else I considered that she 
was still a puppy, that she was eager and anxious, of 
a nervous temperament and easily excited. I did not 
punish her; I did not even upbraid her. I stood quietly 
by her until the last bird had disappeared and then 
watched to see what she would do. She had stood 
with one foot raised, eagerly watching the birds until 
the last one had gone from view; then she put down 
her foot, looked up at me with a wag of her tail and 
exclaimed: 

"What were those things? I never saw such big 
quails before!" 

"Never mind, puppy, you'll get better acquainted 
with them after a while." 

Tlieu she started to hunt for the scent, but I had 
other views. I called her back, made her lie down 
in the grass, and then I knelt down and stroked her 
head, tickled her ribs, pinched her tail, and tried to 
divert her mind from the excitement to which it had 
just been subjected. At last she seemed to be some- 
what cooler and I then called her in to heel and went 
back to the buggy. This was not at all to her liking, 
for she was very anxious to resume the hunt and see 
if there were any more of those big birds there. I 
made her jump into the buggy and we drove a couple 
of hundred yards or so down the road and then tunied 
and drove back for a hundred yards or more past the 
spot where the birds had been, so as to get the benefit 
of what little breeze there was. The scent was yet 
fresh, and there might possibly be another bird or 
two there. I alighted from the buggy and sent her 
out, but watched her carefully. I walked straight for 
the spot, while she quartered back and forth like a 
race horse. At last, as she passed the place where 
the birds had been, she suddenly wheeled, made a 
few leaps in that direction and stopped. The pause 
was but for an instant. She would have gone on, but 
I had the whistle in my hand, and its shrill command 



CHiG AND 1 1§9 

rung out in a way not to be mistaken, and she came 
to "toho" at once. She was very reluctant, however, 
and looked around at me with a vexedi expression. 
She immediately turned her head to the front again, 
however, and felt the scent with her delicate nose. 
I walked up behind her and, saying: ''Careful, now! 
Go on!*' I sent her ahead. She remembered her train- 
ing and went cautiously forward with a slow, swing- 
ing trot. Her pace grew slower and slower until 
finally she dropped into a cautious walk, stepped as 
though treading on eggs and soon froze into a beau- 
tiful point. I was close behind her and made no 
move, but watched her tail. It was rigid as steel for 
a moment, then began trembling, vibrated, drooped 
a little, and then wagged, and I knew she had discov- 
ered that the bird had taken wing. At the same in- 
stant she moved up again, still carefully and cau- 
tiously. Most dogs have some habit, or peculiarity, 
by means of which their masters can tell, if they 
watch them closely enough, whether they are on game 
or whether they are "false pointing." I do not think 
it quite justice to the dog to call a point on fresh scent 
a false point, but it is so called. By watching Chic 
carefully I find that if the bird is not there she will 
only hold her point a few seconds and then her tail 
begins to droop, and soon to. wag, and then on she 
goes. If the bird is there, then there is neither droop 
nor motion. She went on again carefully, as before, 
and made several points and feints without word or 
comment fix)an me. At last she came to the conclusion 
that there was nothing there and she dashed in and 
ran to and fro, thrusting her nose into the tufts of 
i^iass from which the birds had so recently risen, in 
a perfect frenzy of delight and gratification. I watched 
her attentively and kept pretty close to her. If she 
had been mistaken and had flushed one or two strag- 
glers she would have had serious cause to regret her 
bad judgment. A flush at that time, when she had 
been worked carefully up to the birds, would have 



190 CHIC AND I 

been the signal for condign punishment; but, luckily 
for her, there were no birds there, and I climbed into 
the buggy again and drove on. 

A little fartlier on we came to a large field of uncut 
slough grass, or wild hay. Into this she went and sud- 
denly commenced roading rapidly. Hurrying up the 
horse we soon caught up with her and I jumped out 
of the buggy again. Her nose was up high, and she 
went unerringly forward. She never stopped to point, 
or even to road slowly or carefully, but roaded i-apidly 
until a prairie chicken burst out within a few feet 
of her. Here was a serious case. She had undoubt- 
edly scented the bird. She knew enough to point, and 
she knew from her little training on the hot scent 
that we had just left that she ought to point as soon 
as she got the scent. If she had stopped, or paused, 
or made the faintest indication of pointing, I would 
have stopped her with a command and then gently 
worked her up to the game; but she did neither. 
When the bird flushed she stopped instantly and gazed 
after him with her big round eyes, and at the same 
instant the cruel whip came across her back with all 
the force of my arm. I don't believe in "love licks." 
I only struck her once, but it was enough to remind 
her that she had committed a serious fault. To be 
sure she wias young; to be sure she was hunting a 
new bird and was very anxious. I took these and 
other excuses into consideration, but I thought, and 
do yet, that she needed enough punishment to remind 
her that this bird was to be pointed the same as a 
California bird, and not flushed. As she felt the whip 
she sank into the grass with a whine and begged for 
mercy. I scolded her a little and made her feel thor- 
oughly ashamed, and then let her go on. A half mile 
further on she suddenly wheeled into as pretty a point 
as a man need see. Leaping from the buggy I ran 
up to her. Remembering the whip, she cringed a 
little as I approached, but I laid my hand on her beau- 
tiful head and stroked it gently and I'oassured her. 



CHIC AND I 191 

I stood there for quite a while, aiid then walked in 
ahead of her and flushed the bird. It was an old cock 
and was alone. Then I praised and petted Chic and 
made her understand that she had done exactly right. 
She raced around there like a little demon trying to 
find more scent, but there was none to find. Calling 
her in I put her in the buggy and we started for home, 
and you may be sure that Chic was well petted on 
the way in. I wanted that last point and its results 
to be well impressed on her mind, and so I started 
for home as soon as it had occurred, so that the im- 
pression might not be lost, or dissipated by o-ther in- 
cidents. I was well enough satisfied with my first 
trip. I think we are too prone to expect far too much 
of our young dogs. Indeed I think we are very apt to 
expect far too much of our dogs, young or old. Dogs 
are but brutes and are not supposed to have human 
reason and intellect, yet they are frequently punished 
by unreasonable and impatient masters because they 
do things that said masters, with their superior rea- 
soning powers, know to be wrong, but which they 
have never taught their dogs were wrong. We are also 
very prone to expect our puppies to go into the field 
and work as well as old dogs, forgetting the many 
errors and mistakes that we ourselves made when 
we were young. Puppies are like children in a great 
many respects. They need careful watching and 
training. They have many bad habits which can be 
corrected and eradicated; they have many which they 
will outgrow of their own accord; which nature, in 
its maturity, will eradicate. There are times when 
severe treatment is necessary, the same as with chil- 
dren, but most times patience and kindness are more 
efficacious than punishment. 

There w^as a small clump of trees about a mile from 
town where I was informed there was a small bevy 
of quails. The birds had been hatched there during 
the Summer. A few evenings after the occurrence 
just narrated, I took Chic and walked out that way. 



192 CHIC AND I 

She was hunting merrily right and left when sud- 
denly she whirled into a beautiful point. I had heard 
the Bob Whites calling in that direction, but had seen 
nothing. I walked up behind her and took out my 
watch. I held her on the point for three minutes, 
and then sent her on, cautioning her, however, so 
that she would not go too fast. She roaded carefully 
a few yards and pointed again. This time I held the 
watch on her again for three minutes, and then walked 
in and flushed the bird. It was a quail. Chic was 
petted and praised a little, and sent on again. My 
object in these lessons was to teach her to be stanch. 
I wanted her to get over her puppy habits as much 
as possible and to hold the birds indefinitely if I did 
not come and flush them myself, or send her in to 
flush. She was stanch enough but for her eagerness. 
She must learn to control herself. I worked up three 
or four quails that evening and held her on all of them 
without any trouble; in fact, I did not have to speak 
to her once while she was pointing, until I desired her 
to go ahead. The next evening this was repeated, 
and on the second evening the time was extended to 
five minutes. Still she held the point the full time 
without being spoken to. The time was thus gradu- 
ally extended until she would hold a point for fifteen 
minutes without being cautioned. When I began to 
hold her for seven and eight minutes she would some- 
times show a little uneasiness, but I was close to her 
and the softly spoken "toho" was sufficient to keep 
her from even lowering the raised foot. It was beau- 
tiful to see her stand thus. You w^ho think that fif- 
teen minutes is not very long, try it sometime with 
a dog on a point. Take out your watch and hold it 
while the hands measure out a quarter of an hour. 
It will seem like two hours to you. And to you who 
think that fifteen minutes is not a very long time, I 
also beg to remark that it is a long time for a puppy. 
Fifteen minutes for a child to stand in a corner is 
longer to it than twenty-four hours in jail to a full- 



CHIG AND I 193 

grown tramp. I ought to have arisen early those 
bright Summ-er mornings and gone ont at sunrise, 
while the heavy dew was on the grass, and given Chic 
a good training on prairie chickens before the season 
opened and I was ready to shoot, but I was afraid 
that some of the boys would think that, after all my 
preaching, I was out shooting, and so, through this 
foolish sensitiveness, I lost a good opportunity to edu- 
cate my dog and caused myself much unnecessary 
trouble in the field, as will be seen hereafter, 

September 1st came in due course of time, as all dates 
do and will, and Tim and I were among the first to 
get out. The sun had not yet reddened the eastern 
horizon with the first blush of dawn when we struck 
the road. Everyone else had been going north, so we 
concluded to go south. I had made the acquaintance 
of a gentleman who lived south of town, and he had 
told me that there were quite a number of birds on his 
place, and that I would be welcome to shoot there. 
So we started for his place. Chic was sitting in the 
buggy in front of us and her eyes were almost pop- 
ping out of her head with eager intei-est and anxiety. 
It was a beautiful morning, but bade fair to be very 
warm during the middle of the day. The sun was 
showing its ruddy face in full over the eastern hills 
when we drove up to a fence at the end of our jour- 
ney and tied our horses. We were not quite there 
yet, but some grouse that had been feeding on a piece 
of newly plowed ground had flushed at the sound of 
our buggy wheels, and we marked them down in a little 
draw and concluded to go after them. We worked 
up and down that draw, and everywhere, we thought 
it possible for the birds to be, but did not find them. 
Then we took a wider range, and, while walking up 
one side of a little canon— Chic was on the other side 
with Tim— I suddenly found myself, without any 
warning, right in the midst of them. Grouse were 
getting up on all sides of me. The gun cracked right 
and l^ft and I had the satisfaction of seeing one drop, 



194 



CHIC AND 



and a big bunch of feathers float on the air behind 
the other one, but it did not come down. At the re- 
port of the gun Chic stopped, saw what was going 
on, and bolted for me. Just as I was felicitating my- 




THAT LITTLE WHIRLWIND PAID NO ATTENTION TO ME." 



self on getting my first bird and wishing I had got 
the other also, something brown and white flashed 
past me. I was so astonished to see Chic do a thing 
of that kind that I could not get my breath to call 
"toho" until she was quite a way from me; then I 
grabbed my whistle and blew a blast like a Highland 



CHIC AND I 195 

chieftain. But that little whirlwind ahead of me paid 
no attention to it. She had seen the dead bird fall, 
or she had seen the live birds fly, and she was bound 
to get one or the other of them. I believed the puppy 
was actually out of her senses for the moment, but 
I thought I could bring them back to her. I knew 
she would not run far, and, acting on my principle 
of never calling the dog to me to be punished, I laid 
my gun down and ran after her as fast as I could go. 
About forty or fifty yards away she caught scent of 
the dead bird, wheeled and made straight for it. She 
had just got it nicely in her mouth and was starting 
to bring it to me when my hand reached her collar 
and the whip coiled around her. Again and again it 
rose and fell until she howled for mercy. Then I ceased, 
bade her heel, and walked back to the spot where I 
stood when I shot the bird. I picked up the gun, and 
while I was saying "Shame on you!" to Chic, another 
bird got up. At the crack of the gun the bird fell 
about thirty yards from me and in plain sight. Chic 
saw it fall but did not offer to stir. In fact, when I 
moved a little to look down at her, she looked up, and, 
catching my eye, she dropped her ears and looked as 
ashamed of herself as a dog well could. Then I bade 
her sit, and then walked off and retrieved the last 
bird myself in plain sight of the dog, and she did not 
move. Perhaps this was rather rubbing it in, but I 
intended to make this lesson thorough. Having re- 
trieved the last bird and brought it back, I motioned 
toward the first one— the one that she had once had in 
her mouth^and said: "Dead bird! Fetch!" and she 
was away like the wind. She brought the bird beau- 
tifully, sat down in front of me and held the bil-d while 
I took it from her mouth. But she was still trembling 
with excitement. I looked at her and thought, from 
her actions, that she had forgotten her whipping en- 
tii^ly; but she hadn't quite. I then sent her out and 
she raced away like a field trial winner, suddenly 
whirled, went up wind about forty yards and pointed. 



196 CHIC AND I 

Tim had come over in the meantime and we walked 
up to where the dog stood. I told hito to shoot when 
the birds got up and I would watch Chic. But there 
was no need. With a whir like the sound of a mighty 
wind in the rushes, about twenty of the grand birds 
went into the ail*. Tim made a beautiful double and 
Chic— well, Chic stood like a veteran of several 
seasons. With her head high in the air, one foot still 
raised, ears pricked up and eyes almost starting from 
their sockets, she was a picture to gladden the heart 
of an owner, as she stood and watched the flying birds. 
And I? Well, I saw that Chic was all right, so I cut 
down a lazy fellow that didn't get in motion quite so 
soon as his comrades. Then I reached down and 
stroked Chic's head a little, and said, "Good dog; well 
done!" and then told her to fetch, which she did most 
beautifully. We worked along until noon and added 
considerable to our bag, and also had the satisfaction 
of seeing Chic do some lovely work, and I thought 
I would have no more trouble with her. 

We took a long nooning, for it was very warm; made 
our lunch and pipes last as long as possible, and then 
started out again. And now occurred something which 
I somewhat hesitate to record. I am not posing, how- 
ever, as infallible, nor do I even advise others to do 
as I did with Chic. I am simply telling just what I 
did, and any who like may do likewise or not, just 
as they please. The first bunch of birds that we 
struck after our nooning was found in the long grass. 
It was hot and dry. Chic was quartering ahead of 
us and we were walking down wind toward a piece 
of corn where we hoped to find some birds. Chic was 
was about sixty yards ahead of us when she ran right 
into a small bunch of prairie chickens. I did not 
blame her much for flushing the bil'ds, for, as I have 
said, it was hot and dry and she was going with the 
wind. But the sudden flight of the birds all around 
her, without any warning, seemed to deprive her of 
her senses, for, to our utter astonishment, she broke 



CHIC AND I 



197 



in and chased. I called, and then whistled, in vain. 
On she went. 

"Shoot her! shoot her!" yelled Tim. 

A glance was sufficient to show me that she was far 
enough away so that the shot could do no harm; would 
no more than sting her, and would not even penetrate 
the skill. The second glance was along the rib of the 
gun and told me that I was holding about a foot above 
her rump and then the gun cracked. She never yeli>ed 
or whimpered, but the way she doubled her tail under 
her showed that she was hit, and she simply wheeled 
and came back to heel on the run, fell in at my side 
and walked along as though nothing unusual had hap- 
pened. Now, I have never been able to satisfactorily 
solve the problem that immediately raised itself. Did 
she reason, when she chased those birds, that she was 
so far away from me that I couldn't punish her, or 
did she simply forget? The fact that she immedi- 
ately came back to me when she felt the sting of the 
shot inclines me to believe that she knew that she 
was doing wrong, and when she found that she was 
not beyond the reach of punishment she immediately 
returned. I do not c^re to defend this shooting of 
dogs. I have no doubt that many puppies have been 
rendered gunshy by it. Everyone must do in this 
matter as his judgment inditoates. I would not shoot 
a dog or a puppy the first or second, no, nor the twen- 
tieth time it was out. I would not apply so sevei-e a 
remedy under any circumstances except as the very 
last resort. I think it is taking great chances, and 
I would not recommend it. I can only say that I 
would study my pupil, and when it was as far ad- 
vanced as Chic, I think I would know w^hether such 
a remedy could be safely applied or not. There will 
be opinions on both sides of this question. I have 
heard endless arguments on both sides, but it still 
remains, in my mind, as the simple proposition that 
some dogs need it and others do not. Later on, when 
Chic grew older and more independent, I knew her 



198 CHIC AND I 

on one loccasion to deliberately disobey the whistle 
because, as I believe, she thought she was beyond 
reach of punishment. I whistled her to come in. She 
stopped and looked at me. I repeated the whistle and 
accompanied it with a motion. She could not help 
but understand, yet she deliberately turned and 
trotted off. What would you have done? I sent a 
load of No. 8 shot after her that brought her back 
in a huriy. I never had to do it but those two times. 
I hnted to do it then, but it seemed to me to be a 
necessity. 

In closing this episode I can only repeat that I do 
not advise anyone to do as I did. Study the disposi- 
tion of your pupil and use your own judgment. Im- 
mediately when Chic felt the sting of the shot she 
returned and fell quietly in at my side. We marked 
the flying birds as well as we could and went after 
them. I kept Chic into heel until we arrived in the 
vicinity of where we had marked the birds, and then 
sent her out. She had gone only a little way when 
she wheeled, roaded a little, and came to a stand. 
We walked up, flushed the birds and shot, and Chic 
did not offer to stir until I sent her in to retrieve. 
She behaved like an old dog the balance of the after- 
noon, and we had some very nice sport. As the sun 
was declining we put up our guns and started for 
home, and a little after dark we drove into A—, very 
well satisfied with our day's outing. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

Morning Shoots. 

I DOW proposed to try and make up for lost time. I 
could not, of course, go for a long trip every day, but, 
as I was in the heart of a good grouse country, there 
was nothing to prevent my rising early two or three 
times a week and going out after a few birds. I was 
satisfied with anywhere from three to ten, and did not 
care to kill a wagon-load. So, one evening on retiring, 
I set out my rubber boots— for the grass was high 
where I was going and would be very wet with the 
heavy dew of Fall— my gun, shooting-coat, shells, etc., 
and wound up the alarm clock, setting it at 4 o'clock 
a. m. Chic was an earnest observer of all these prepa- 
rations and knew very well what it meant. Whether 
it was from love of the scent, or whether it was to 
assure herself that she would not be forgotten in the 
morning, I cannot say, but she left her accustomed 
corner that night and slept on my shooting-coat. I 
believe it is customary at such a stage of a story as 
this to regale the reader with a very exciting dream, 
at the climax of which the alarm goes off, the dreamer 
awakes and finds himself in some ridiculous position, 
and then all goes well. Well, unfortunately I didn't 
dream. If I did I have forgotten what it was about. 
When the alarm went off it awoke me and I must con- 
fess that I nearly turned over and went to sleep again. 
The comfortable bed presented attractions at that 
early hour almost suflScient to outweigh my desire for 
sport. Perhaps it would have gotten the better of me 
bad it not been for Chic. She knew well what that 



200 CHIC AND I 

alarm was for, and when I stirred in the bed, stretched 
and yawned, she jumped up and ran over to me and 
put her cold nose in my face with a whine, exclaiming: 

"Oh, do hurry up! It takes you so long to get woke 
up. It'll be daylight before we get started!" 

That settled it, and with a little pat on her head I 
sprang out and was soon dressed and ready. There 
was no bother with horses and wagons; I had to wait 
for no tardy friend; there was no packing away of 
lunches, or anything of that sort. Chic was to be my 
only companion, and I was to return by breakfast time; 
so all I had to do was to open the door and go. The 
east was just streaked with gray as I stepped outside 
the door. Terribly lonely shooting, I should think, says 
someone. Lonely? Who could be lonely when with 
Nature for a companion? Who that loves shooting 
cannot find companionship in each twinkling star that 
seems to wink in jovial sympathy; in the silvery moon 
that slowly pales before the coming of the Prince of 
Day; in each slender thread of pink and gold that shoots 
out from the eastern horizon to proclaim the approach- 
ing light? Alone! The village slept; all nature slept; 
I alone was astir and awake, and I felt my soul thrill 
with the ecstacy of Monte Christo when he exclaimed: 
"The world is mine!" Each tree and bush seemed to 
nod in friendly recognition; the very houses and fences 
that I passed seemed more cozy and homelike and did 
not stare at me so coldly as in harsh daylight. Then 
there was the twitter of an awakening bird, followed 
by the carol of its mate; then the air was vocal with 
their glad music. Now a saucy lark flutters down in 
the road before me and looks at me with inquiring 
eyes, and the eastern sky is suddenly flooded with a 
roseate light and day is here. Lonely amid such 
beauties! Lonely when the day is breaking! Lonely 
when the short death of night is awaking into a resur- 
rection of beauty! Lonely with all these glories spread 
out before j'ou as if for your especial delectation! 
Lonely with the song of Nature in your ears and the 



CHIC AND I 201 

joy of Nature in your heart! Lonely with the pure air 
of morning filling your lungs and the strength of life 
and health pulsing through your veins! Oh, no, I 
was not lonely on those mornings. And then, there 
was Chic, too. Was she nobody? I have had many a 
hunt in my lifetime, but none come back to me brighter, 
purer, more free from discord and discomfort, and 
more replete with actual pleasure and content than 
those early mornings afield with Chic and Little Nell. 
On we went, and in about fifteen minutes we were 
clear of the sleeping village, crossed the little wooden 
bridge and came into the great hayfields near the 
town. A large slough took a crooked and tortuous 
course through these hayfields, and in many places 
there were a large number of acres where it had been 
too wet to cut and the long slough grass was still 
standing. It had been a very dry year and I believed 
that in the long grass near the slough would be a good 
place to find prairie chickens in the early morning. I 
knew there had been a great many there before the 
hay was cut, but I aJso knew that most of 
them had been shot out before the seasion 
opened, and all I expected was the fag end of 
what had been good shooting. Still I hoped and ex- 
pected to find enough to work my dog on and give her 
a little experience with these kings and queens of the 
prairie. 

I worked up one side of the slough clear to the head, 
about a mile and a half, without getting a shot. Cross- 
ing over we started down the other side. I walked 
leisurely along, while Chic ranged back and forth in 
front of me, quartering her ground beautifully and 
seeming to cover every likely spot. I heard a tremen- 
dous barking off toward a farmhouse, and looked 
around to see two large dogs come rushing out as 
though intending to make breakfast off of me. They 
were about a quarter of a mile away, however, and 
stopped a few j^ards from the house and continued to 
bark and raise a terrible racket. Why will farmers, 



202 CflIC AND t 

or anybody else for that matter, harbor such useless 
dogs? Or, if they must have them, why not teach 
them good manners? Many a runaway, many a broken 
vehicle, many a broken limb has been caused by some 
worthless dog rushing unexpectedly at a horse's head, 
barking with all his might. I do not blame the dog 
so much; he is only in fun and it is his nature. But I 
blame the owner; he should have more sense. It is the 
simplest matter in the world to break a puppy of that 
wicked habit. Let some friend drive by with a small 
syringe filled with ammonia and water, about half 
and half, and when the dog gets close enough give it 
to him. One dose of this sort, if the dog gets it in the 
nose, is generally enough. If he is too sharp to get near 
the buggy, then a good whipping when he gets back 
from the chase will answer the purpose. Two or three 
good thrashings is all that is necessary. I read some- 
where about a man who had an ill-natured shepherd 
dog which rushed out and attacked every aog that 
went by. One day he whipped a fine hunting dog 
belonging to a couple of gentlemen who were driving 
by. The next day the same gentlemen drove by and 
the dog rushed out as usual expecting to make mince- 
meat of the quiet dog trotting under the buggy, when 
one of the gentlemen unostentatiously dropped some 
white object out of the back of the buggy. Before the 
shepherd could turn and run, which the coward tried 
to do, the white object, which proved to be a fighting 
bulldog, had him by the neck and in a few minutes 
there was the worst whipped shepherd dog in that 
neighborhood that anyone ever saw. It is unneces- 
sary to say that the lesson was sufiicient, for ever 
after the shepherd dog shunned as a thing unclean 
every buggy that drove by the place. My attention 
was attracted for a few moments by the baying of the 
dogs mentioned, and when I looked around Chic was 
roading cautiously. Her head was high in the air 
and she was stepping slowly forward, every action 
denoting that she was near game. My whistle was in 



CHIC AND I 203 

my hand in an instant and I whistled toho. Sht' 
stopped and then immediately began to go onward 
again. Again I whistled, and again she stopped for a 
moment and then went on. She was determined to get 
as close as possible to those birds. I saw that she 
was going to road to a flush and hastened to get to 
her. I reached her side just as the bird rose and at 
almost the same instant I grasped her collar and plied 
the whip. Birds were getting up all around me, but I 
paid no attention to them; Chic was occupying all 
my time and both hands at that moment. When I got 
through the birds were all gone. I sent her on and 
she went away as merrily as though nothing had hap- 
pened. She never sulked; no matter what she did and 
no matter how hard a whipping she got, the matter 
ended there. Not more than eighty yards further on, 
as she was coming across wind, she suddenly wheeled, 
roaded a little way, and then pointed. I walked up 
and took out my watch. Five minutes passed and she 
had not offered to move. Ten minutes I waited and 
then put up my watch and clucked to her to move on. 
She turned her head slightly when I clucked to her 
and I motioned and clucked again. Then she went 
slowly and cautiously forward; not more than six 
inches at each step, and as carefully as a cat moving 
toward its prey. For about ten yards she moved in this 
manner and then pointed again. I clucked to her 
again but she did not want to move, and I knew she 
was close to the birds. I walked in and flushed, the 
birds getting up about five yards ahead of her. It was 
as pretty a piece of work as I ever saw. Did the 
whipping do any good? You must answer that ques- 
tion for yourself; I can only give the facts and repeat 
what I have so often said before— study the disposi- 
tion of your dog. Some dogs can be raised and trained 
almost to perfection without the use of the whip even 
once, almost without ever a cross word. Other dogs 
must have the whip occasionally. Chic is one of the 
latter kind. I think it is due to her unusual intelli- 



204 CHIC AND I 

gence. I believe that she reasons that I think so much 
of her that I will not hurt her very much. She always 
appears surprised when she is whipped. Again she is 
like many of her sex, very stubborn and bent upon 
having her own way. She knew as well, or better than 
I, how those prairie chickens ought to be approached, 
yet she deliberately roaded to a flush. I am certain 
she knew better. If I had not been certain of it I 
would not have whipped her. Chic has flushed many 
times when the wind has been against her, sometimes 
when the ground was hot and dry, and a few times 
when she was not in condition. She was never pun- 
ished for those mistakes. But when she deliberately 
did what she did that morning it is my belief that she 
deserved punishment and I point to the sequel in sup- 
port of my belief. I made a nice double when the 
birds arose. They were young ones, nearly full grown. 
Chic and I both watched them as they sailed away 
and marked them down, well scattered, near the fence 
that bordered the railroad. When they had settled and 
the gun was reloaded, I told Chic to fetch. She sprang 
in to retrieve but suddenly stiffened to a point again. 
"Aha," thought I, "a straggler; I'll fix him!" I walked up 
with all the assurance in the world and an old cock 
got out almost under my feet and went off with a 
great cackle. I laughed as he went away, amused at 
his braggadocio and at his futile efforts to escape. 1 
covered him nicely and waited for him to get far 
enough away so that he wouldn't be blown to pieces 
and then pulled the trigger. Did he come down all in 
a heap? Well, I guess not! For all I know to the 
contrary he's going yet! I just missed him slick and 
clean with both barrels. How is it that a fellow will 
make remarkably good shots, one after another, and 
then miss some vei"y easy ones? We followed the birds 
over toward where we had marked them down and 
Chic commenced to work with a will. It was only a 
few minutes before she had one of them. I did not 
repeat my error of a few minutes before, but knocked 



(!HI(; AND I 205 

it down nicely as it went away, quartering to my 
right. Thirty or forty yards further on another point 
was had and another bird added to the bag. Prairie 
chicliens are easy to shoot under such circumstances, 
and it is no great credit to malie a big bag. I now 
had four birds; it was all I cared for; the sun was 
getting high, and so we turned our steps homeward. 
On the way in another single was piclied up, and at 
half past 8 o'clock I was in my office ready for busi- 
ness. Chic was sleeping in her accustomed corner, little 
Nell was nicely cleaned up and stowed away, and the 
only indication of the recent carnage was a feather 
that I found sticking on the end of Chic's nose about 
half an hour later. 

A few days after this little shoot I went out again. 
As before it was very early morning when we started, 
and before the sun had shown his ruddy face in the 
east we were on the same ground as before. The air 
was vocal with the merry trill of the upland plovers 
and they were flying over and around me all the time. 
There is nothing more beautiful than the soft, mellow, 
liquid music of their call. Sometimes away above 
you, so high that they look no larger than a lark; 
sometimes to the right or left, but always out of range, 
their notes come like pearls of melody dropping from 
the azure sky. I never saw so many at one time as I 
saw this morning. They were everywhere, and a few 
ventured too near me and were soon in my shooting- 
coat pocket. Now I thought I would try an experi- 
ment. As I have stated, this took place in a large hay- 
field through which ran a large slough or marsh with 
long, uncut grass. The hay was put up in cocks 
around the field. I took my half-dozen or so of plovers 
and set them up in as lifelike positions as possible 
near one of the haycocks; then I dug out the top of the 
haycock and climbed into it with Chic. Poor Chic 
didn't like that at all, for she couldn't see out of the 
top and did not know what was going on. When I 
stood erect my head and shoulders only were above 



206 CHIG AND I 

the hay, and by stooping I could hid'^ myself entirely. 
The plovers were flying all around i.^e and 1 had no 
need to try and call them, yet nevertheless I did. I 
practiced their cry until I got a fairly jjiood imitation 
and then called to one that was comin.^; and flying 
very high. To my surprise and delight it p tched down 
almost like a jacksnipe and wa-s about to alight among 
the decoys when a report from little Nell laid him low. 
I now kept snugly hid and did not call very much, for 
there was no need. The plovers had forgotten seeing 
me climb into the haycock and they saw their friends 
down there and came sailing fearlessly over me, or 
made preparations to alight. I bagged a dozen of them 
in a very short time and would have had more but I 
had only brought a few shells, and they were loaded 
with sevens, and I did not care to put in the morning 
without giving Chic her share of the sport. So I 
climbed out of my blind, to the great consternation of 
fifty or more plovers, gathered up the slain and pro- 
ceeded on my way, promising myself a good time with 
the songsters on some other morning. By the way, 1 
don't remember ever eating anything much nicer than 
those same upland plovers; they were delicious. Then 
they are very wary and hard to get at, too, which 
makes their meat all the more appreciated by the 
sportsman. We had not gone far when Chic commenced 
to make game. She threw up her head and trotted 
slowly up wind. Slower and slower she went until 
she was proceeding in a careful, cautious walk. 1 
thought of stopping her and then I thought that by 
this time she ought to know enough to stop herself. 
I followed close behind her and she showed every 
indication of being near the game, but still she made 
no point. I thought that perhaps the birds were run- 
ning, but prairie chickens seldom do this. As she 
crept closer and closer I came to the conclusion that 
she was inviting more trouble for herself, and so the 
sequel showed. On she went like a cat creeping after 
a mouse until at last, after a moment's hesitation, she 



OHIO AND I 207 

made a spring aud a nearly full-grown bird sprang into 
the air almost under her nose. She nearly caught it, 
and a moment later she was "catching it" in very 
truth. The gun had been laid dowm and as the bird 
flushed the whip descended on poor Chic's back. We 
were right in the midst of a big covey and birds were 
getting up on all sides, but Chic and I were both busy 
and the birds went away unharmed. I was almost in 
despair, for it began to seem as though I had to whip 
her every morning before she would attend to busi- 
ness. I did the job thoroughly aud then we proceeded 
on our way. In a short time she got scent again, 
roaded as before, and then came to stanch point. I 
walked up and stood admiring her for a few minutes 
and then walked in ahead. No bird appeared. I looked 
around and she was still pointing. I walked on fully 
thirty feet and still flushed no bird. Chic was still 
pointing. I motioned her to come and she approached 
me very carefully, step by step, and when within 
about six feet of me stood again. She was trembling 
in every limb and I knew the birds must be there. 
I urged her to go on, but she would not move. Of 
course I did not urge her very much, for I did not 
want her to go ahead and flush, but only spoke to her 
once or twice in order to test her. Again I walked on, 
and when I was about twenty feet more in front of her 
there was a whir of wings in front of me aud to my 
right, and half a dozen or more birds made the air 
musical with their swiftly beating pinions. I scored 
with the first barrel but missed with the second. I 
looked around at Chic. She still stood where I had 
left her; but the point was broken and she was watch- 
ing the flying birds wuth her whole soul looking out 
of her intelligent eyes. No prettier work could be 
asked of a dog. At the command she rushed in and 
retrieved beautifully. I could not help petting her 
and praising her for such a nice piece of work, but 
asked her reproachfully why she did not do that at 
first. . . 



208 CHIC AND 1 

"I forget," she replied. "When we first go out I am 
so excited and so anxious to get the birds that I do 
not realize how very close I am getting to them. It 
is all right for you to remind me with that whip, but 
there is no need for you to whip me so hard." 

I accepted the reproof and stroked her head a few 
moments before we started after the birds we had 
marked down. We picked up three singles and then 
crossed the railroad track and started across the fields 
toward the river. The conditions here were the same 
as in the fields we had just left. I was trudging on 
through wet grass more than knee high, and Chic was 
ranging off to my right. In investigating some likely 
looking spot she had got considerably in my rear and 
I looked around and, catching her eye, motioned her in 
toward me. She came like a raceliorse; came up be- 
hind me and rushed on ahead. She had only got about 
thirty feet ahead of me when she wheeled to the right 
as sharply as though she had suddenly run against 
some impenetrable obstacle, threw her head high and 
commenced roading. The grass was so high that she 
could not see over it, and I followed her closely. She 
was a beautiful sight as she roaded through that high 
grass. The sun was up and the morning was ex- 
tremely lovely. The heavy dew glistened on the long 
grass like diamonds. Chic moved more and more 
slowly, lifted her feet high to avoid tangling them in 
the grass, suddenly quivered from head to foot, 
crouched very slightly, and then I could see her stiffen 
in each muscle and fiber. Immovable as a rock, a 
"living picture" in very truth, and the most beautiful 
one that it was ever the lot of mortal man to behold. 
Then I wished for a kodak. Not that I might preserve 
the picture for myself, for, like many others, it is 
forever imprinted on my memory's lens and is ever 
present with me, but that I might show it to my 
friends. Having surfeited myself with the inspiring 
view I moved on in front of her. As before I went until 
I began to think that possibly she was mistaken, for I 



CHIC AND I 



209 



saw no birds. Again I turned and motioned her up to 
me. She came slowly and carefully and, right at my 
side, stiffened into a point again. There could be no 
mistaking that, and, stopping to stroke her lovely head, 
1 moved on ahead of her again. At a distance of fully 




•'THREW HER HEAD UP AND COMMENCED ROADING. 

thirty yards from where she had first pointed the birds 
flushed. I scored with each barrel, hastily opened the 
gun, threw in a couple more shells and cut down a 
laggard. That is one of the beauties of an ejector gun. 
There is no trouble taking out the shell; no shells stick- 
ing in the gun, and it saves a very appreciable amount 
of time when in a "hot corner" with prairie chickens 
or ducks. The birds flew on over a piece of meadow 
that had been cut and settled in a small slough or 
swale about a hundred yards distant. They were well 



210 CHIC AND I 

scattered, aJl young birds, and I anticipated some fine 
sport with them. Nor was I disappointed. We moved 
up to them and Chic almost immediately pointed. I 
flushed and killed, and one after another we routed 
them out of their hiding places. Some got away, others 
found their last resting place in my coat pocket. Chic 
behaved like a veteran. She did not flush nor in any 
way do anything that was not exactly to my liking, 
and I am rather particular, too. 

There is no use of going into detail with the many 
other of those delightful morning trips. Time after 
time Chic and I hunted those bottoms together; some- 
times only two or three birds rewarded us; sometimes 
ten or a dozen. I took my little darling's reproach 
to heart, and thereafter when she made a mistake 
through her eagerness, instead of giving her a hard 
whipping I only gave her one cut, or perhaps only 
pinched her ear just enough to remind her that that 
would not do. She gradually outgrew that fault and 
became as steady and stanch as one could wish. But 
for some time I had to watch her at flrst lest she 
would be too eager. I never had any trouble of that 
kind with lier on quails. She seemed to be a natural 
quail dog. Whether it is because her ancestors for 
many generations have hunted quails and have not 
had the opportunity to become educated on prairie 
chickens, I do not know. This, however, may have had 
something to do with it. It may be that the scent of 
the prairie chicken, being so much stronger than that of 
a quail, excited her unnaturally; it may be that the size 
of the birds contributed to her excitement. However, 
I know she was very eager and very anxious, and, in 
her young days, which I have just been describing, I 
had considerable trouble with her, as we have seen. 
Now, however, I am content to go out with Cuic and 
hunt with anybody's dog, satisfled that at the end of 
the day Chic and I will have nothing to be ashamed of. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

In the Field* 

One moTiiing in the fore part of October, before tbe 
sun bad deigned to sbow his genial face, my friend 
Will and I migbt have been seen driving out of A—, 
toward tbe bills south of town. Will was a moist en- 
thusiastic sportsman, but, as yet, a little new at tbe 
recreation. He had just invested in an L. C. 
Smith gun, together with a shooting coat, hat, 
gun case, cleaning tools and all the rest of 
the paraphernalia necessary in a sportsman's outfit. 
Chic was sitting at our feet with eyes wide open tak- 
ing in everything of interest along the route. Not a 
meadowlark or gopher escaped her attention and she 
was more than anxious to get out and get to work. 

"Why don't you let her run?" asked Will. 

"Because I want her fresh and her nose cool when we 
get into the field," I answered. 

"Do you let her ride back, too?" 

"No, I let her run back." 

"Why do you do that? I should think that would be 
just the time you would want her to ride." 

"No, I figure this way: I let her ride out so as to 
have her fresh and eager when we get into the field; 
then, after she has worked all day and is hot, if I 
should put her into the buggy and let her ride home, 
she would get stiff and rheumatic. Sitting in the 
buggy there is always more or less of a breeze, or 
draft, and she would catch cold. She is never too tired 
to run home, as you will see at the end of the day. She 
not only runs back but she will hunt every likely field 



212 CHIC AND I 

and cover od the waj^ back. Then when we get home 
I give her a good rubbing down; if she is muddy I 
clean off the worst of it, and she has a good night's 
rest and feels all right the next morning. Take our 
own cases, for instance. After we have hunted and 
got thoroughly heated up, if we then sit down in a draft 
without anything additional around us, we feel stiff 
and lame, and catch cold; if we would keep up the 
exercise until we get home and then take a good bath, 
we would not take any cold or suffer any evil results. 
I think it is the same way with a dog. You would 
think a man was a fool who would drive a valuable 
horse until he was thoroughly heated and would then 
tie him to a post where the cold wind could blow on 
him. Same with a dog. You let her run all day, get 
heated through and through, and then put her in a 
buggy and drive home with her, what are you to ex- 
pect? That she will get stiffened up, of course. But 
let her run all the way home, go right into the house 
out of the wind, get a good rub and then a good hearty 
supper, and your dog is all right for another day's 
work. Besides that, I never saw Chic so tired that she 
wanted to ride." 

"What did you mean when you spoke about this gun 
fitting me when I was talking about buying it?" 

"A gun should fit a man as well as the clothes he 
wears. Men are not all the same size, therefore the 
gun that one man can shoot will not be a convenient 
size for another man. A gun should have a leugth of 
stock just so that when it is brought to the shoulder it 
will come up nicely. If too long it will catch under the 
arm, unless you shove it away out when bringing it 
up. which is a very awkwai'd motion. If too short 
you have to bring it back against the shoulder after 
bringing it up. This is not only a waste of time, which 
is often valuable, but disconcerts you and is liable to 
spoil your aim. It also keeps your mind on the gun 
when it should be on the game, estimating its distance 
and tiight. Then the gun should have just enough drop 



CHIC AND I 213 

of stock so that when you bring it to your shoulder, 
drop your head so that the cheek just touches the 
comb of the stock, the eye will be in a position to 
naturally follow the rib of the gun to the sight. A 
man with a long neck requires a stock with more drop 
than a man with a short neck'; a man with long arms, 
of course, requires a longer stock than a man with short 
arms. Give a short-necked man a gun with too much 
drop and, unless he is posted and is very careful, he 
will sight from one corner of the rib at the breech to 
the sight. This is a very slight difference, but at forty 
yards it makes a difference of about three feet. Try 
it yourself. Sight at some object from one side of tiie 
rib to the sight; then, without moving the gun, move the 
head just enough to sight exactly along the center of 
tlie rib and you will see what a difference it will make. 
I sliot a gun with too much drop for me for quite a 
while before I discovered the reason for my unac- 
countable misses. The gun should be the right weight 
for you, too, and should balance right. All these 
things are considered when we speak of the fit of a 
gun." 

"Why did you recommend me to buy a 12-gauge gun 
instead of a 10-gauge?" 

"Well," said I, with a short laugh, "now you are 
asking a question on which there are as many opinions 
as there are shooters. If you had been a large, power- 
fully-built, strong man, I might have recommended a 
10-gauge. As 1 said, a man should have a gun to fit 
bim in weight as well as in measurement. A 10-gauge 
gun, with its heavier load, may possibly reach and 
kill game a few yards farther than a 12-gauge. I do 
not admit that it will; I only admit the possibility. 
But very long shots are very rare. Most of the game 
that you and I will kill will be within forty yards; 
almost all of it within fifty yards, and very rarely a 
shot at a longer distance than sixty yards. At any of 
these distances a 12-gauge gun, in my opinion, is just 
ajs effective as a 10-gauge, and if the game was any 



214 CHIC AND I 

fairther off, probably neither of us could hit it anyway, 
no roatter how far our guns would shoot. Then there 
is a difference in the time required to bring a light gun 
into position and that required for a heavy one. LrCt 
one of us carry a ten or twelve pound gun around these 
fields on a hot day and we would soon get tired and 
want to sit down. There again a good deal of time 
would be wasted when, with lighter guns, we would 
be at work. The chief reason, however, in my mind, is 
this: Men like you and I hunt for pleasure. We have a 
good time out in the field if we only get a few birds. 
The greater part of our pleasure is in getting out of 
town; getting out into the fields away from the noise 
and dust, the drudge and grind of the city. Why, 
then, should we do anything to detract from our 
Pleasure and make it seem more like work? 1 do not 
think I lose a dozen birds in a year with my 12-gauge 
that I could have bagged with a 10-gauge. Now if I 
knew positively that I lost ten times that many I 
would still cling to the 12-gauge gun, on account of the 
greater pleasure of carrying and handling it, and the 
lesis work there is in it. To sum it all up, I do not 
use a 10-gauge on account of the greater labor of hand- 
ling it. It is the same way with shells. I have seen 
fellows load up all their pockets with shells, adding 
from twelve to twenty pounds to the weight they had 
to carry, and then go trudging around a slough after 
jacksnipes, sinking up to their ankles at every step, 
with the buggy tied to a fence not thirty yards away. 
I prefer to leave a few loads in the buggy and go after 
them a little oftener." 

"You're a lazy fellow," said Will. 

"Well, that's all right. You will never see me lag in 
the field. I always have plenty of shells, too, and never 
ran out of them yet that I remember of, but I believe 
in using a little judgment and common sense about 
these things. As long as we are hunting for fun let's 
get all the fun and as little work out of it as we can." 

We had reached our destination and the sun 



< CHIC AND I 215 

was just peeping over the hills. We jumped out, 
found a shady place for our horse, unhitched him from 
the buggy and tied him to a tree, threw a little bunch 
of hay down in front of him, took our guns out and put 
them together, put tifteen or twenty shells in our 
pockets, motioned to Chic— who had all this time re- 
mained in the buggy and eagerly watched every move- 
ment—and started for a stubble-field which lay right 
by the side of a large cornfield. We walked leisurely 
along, talking as we went, and keeping good watch of 
the dog. 

"Here! Don't point that gun at me!" I exclaimed, 
as I looked toward Will and found myself staring 
down the muzzle of his 12-gauge. 

"It ain't loaded," said he, with a laugh. 

"I don't care whether it's loaded or not. More men 
have been killed with guns that were supposed not to 
be loaded than with guns that were known to be. You 
can't be too careful with your gun. Never let the muz- 
zle of a gun swing in the direction of anybody." 

He was carrying his gun on his right arm; his right 
hand grasped the stock of the gun just below the trig- 
ger guard, the barrels resting in the hollow of his right 
arm. As I was walking on his right the inclination 
of the gun brought the barrels in such a position as to 
be pointing right at me. He changed the position of 
the weapon and we walked on. 

"You ought to load your gun," said I. "Suppose a bird 
should get up in front of you, you wouldn't be ready." 

"Why, I supposed Chic would point all the birds!" 

"Chic will find a good many, if there are any here, 
but she can't be everywhere at the same time. We 
are liable to 'walk up' a bird at any time, so you had 
better load up." 

After he had slipped in a couple of shells, I said: 
"Now carry your gun this way." Suiting the action 
to the word I threw my gun over my right shoulder, 
trigger guard up, with the breech of the barrels rest- 
ing on my shoulder; the right hand grasping the stock 



216 CHIC AND I 

of the gun at the pistol grip, with the thumb on the 
safety. I always carry my gun at safe when hunting 
Avith a companion. When the game springs into the 
air the same motion that brings the gun to the 
shoulder releases the safety, and there is no time lost. 
When hunting alone I am not always so particular. 
"Now," said I, "suppose a bird should jump up here 
unexpectedly, see how quickly I could throw the gun 
down, bring up my left hand and take aim." Acting 
as I spoke, my left hand came up simultaneously with 
the movement of the right hand bringing the gun 
down, and the gun dropped into my left hand exactly 
on a level with my eye, the stock was brought against 
my shoulder and the gun was ready for action. It is 
all one motion, or rather the motions of the right and 
left hands and the head are simultaneously made and 
occupj^ the time of only one motion. "It is a good 
thing for you to practice that a little until you get the 
habit acquired. It is all a habit, and after a while you 
will get so that you can bring the gun from that posi- 
tion and take aim as quickly as you can bring it up 
when holding it in front of you and ready for the 
game. If your shoulder gets tired, as it will some- 
times, then carry your gun with the butt under the 
right shoulder, the right forearm thrown across the 
body and the gun resting upon it. The trigger guard 
keeps the gun from slipping down." As I spoke I 
showed him how it was done. "This is not a good 
position, however," I continued, "for it is hard to get 
the gun in shape for instant use when you have it in 
this position. I only use it once in a while when I 
am in a place where I am very certain there is no 
game, and when I am a little tired or cramped in other 
positions." 

Just then Chic began to road. Calling Will's atten- 
tion to it, we quickened our steps and were soon close 
behind her. Looking around I saw that Will still had 
his gim on his shoulder. 

"Now take your gun this way," said I. "Hold your 



CQIC AND I 217 

right hand at the waist, grasping the stock of the gun, 
with the tliiimb on the safety, the left hand grasping 
the fore-end of the gun in a natural position. As the 
bird springs into the air and as you bring the gun to 
your shoulder, slip the safety up. You lose no time by 
it and you are always safe from accidental discharges. 
After a while, when you are more accustomed to hajidle 
the gun, you can leave the safety off if you wish. 
That's one thing I like about the Smith gun. By 
drawing the safety clear back it is always cocked 
and ready. I rarely use mine that way, however, ex- 
cept when I am alone in a blind and the birds are 
coming thick and fast. It is better to learn the way I 
tell you, though, and you can easily change after- 
ward if you want to." 

Here Chic pointed. 

"Now," said I, "if a bird gets up in front of you, 
let him have it; don't wait for me to shoot. I may 
aim at him, but I will not shoot until after you do." 

Almost as I spoke a bird flushed right in front of 
Will. His gun came up like a flash, cracked, and, to 
my astonishment, the bird fell dead. I had no time 
to make any remark other than to cry: "Good!" for 
the birds were now rising in all directions. I scored 
with each barrel, threw open the gun, the shells being 
thereby thrown out by the ejector mechanism, hastily 
inserted a couple more shells and was in time to stop 
the flight of an old cock that was going off cackling 
at a great rate. As the last shot died away Will burst 
into a run. 

"Hold on here! Where are you goimg?" I yelled. 

"Going after that bird I shot," he replied, trembling 
with excitement. It was his first chicken and I 
sympathized with him. 

"Just wait a minute," said I. "I want to show you 
something. Is your gun loaded?" 

"No— I— why, I don't know whether it is or not." 
With that he opened the gun and showed up two shells 
which had both been fired. 



218 OHIO AND 1 

"Now, old man," said I, "breaking shot is almost 
as bad a habit in a man as in a dog. It is easier cured, 
however. Suppose you had run after that bird with- 
out any loads in your gun, and had flushed a straggler; 
or worse yet had run across a rattlesnake in a posi- 
tion demanding quick action. Either supposition is 
bad enough, isn't it? Well, just remember that the 
biixi is not going to get away very far while you are 
putting in a couple of shells, and remember that it is 
very bad practice to be in the midst of your work with 
your tools out of order. Always load your gun before 
you start to retrieve your bitd. In this case you don't 
have to retrieve, for here is your bii-d," and I mo- 
tioned toward Chic who came trotting up proudly, 
bringing in the dead bird. While talking with Will 
I had motioned to her and she had gone off like a shot 
and foimd tha bird. 

"Well, I declare!" exclaimed Will, stooping to take 
the bird from Chic's mouth, "that's pretty fine." 

"Fetch the others," said I, with a wave of the hand, 
and in a few minutes the rest of the birds were in my 
pockets, and we were going after some of those which 
had escaped and which we had marked down. 

"By the way," said Will, "why didn't you shoot at 
that last bird that got up and went away to the left?" 

"Well," replied I, "in the first place it wasn't my 
bird; it was yours." 

"Mine!" exclaimed he. "How do you make that out? 
I claim no proprietorship in any of them!" 

"No, of course not; but that's part of the etiquette 
of the field. You are on my left. If a bird gets up in 
front of you and goes away to the left, it's your bird. 
I have no right to shoot at it unless you shoot and 
miss; then I can try it if it is not too far away. If a 
bird goes to the right, it is my bird; that is, it is my 
right to shoot first at it. When a bird rises exactly in 
front of both of us and goes straight away, as some- 
times happens, then it is 'first come, first served,' and 
the fellow who is quickest witth his gun is entitled to 



CHIC AND I 219 

the meat. In our case, however, I should let you have 
the first shot." 

"Why?" 

"Because you are learuiug. A gentleman in the field 
will always give his less experienced companion the 
preference, and will give him the best positions and 
the easiest shots. A game-hog will probably say, *0h, 
you couldn't hit it anyway, so I thought if I didn't 
shoot it it would get away,' and then slyly laugh at 
you. There is no place where a gentleman's natural 
gentility is so quickly displayed, and where a hog's 
bristles are so quickly uncovered, as in the field. If 
I go to your house to dinner you don't help yourself 
first and then pass the food to me. Well, the principle 
is the same here. You are my guest, and it is a 
pleasure to me to assist you to what little I know 
about the sport. Until you get so you can hold your 
own, which you will do very quickly if that first shot 
of yours is any criterion, you will always get the 
cream of the shooting when with me." 

"Thank you very much," replied Will. "I didn't 
know there was so much to it as all that." 

"There is so much to it that a nice little book could 
easily be written on the subject of field etiquette. Wait 
until you go out with someone who happens to be a 
little quicker with the gun than you are, and have him 
snap all the shots away from you, put you in positions 
where you will have no chance to do anything, and 
then laugh at you; then you will understand it." 

"Where do these prairie chickens go during the heat 
of the day?" asked Will. 

"Into the corn. Let me put you onto something there. 
When you are working out a cornfield always walk 
along the north side of the field. That's where you 
are most apt to find chickens. They go into the corn 
to escape the heat; it 1^' cooler on the north side of the 
field than on any other; ergo, look for the birds on the 
north side of the field. In the early morning you will 
find them out in the stubble. A good wheat stubble 



220 CHIC AND I 

with plenty of ragweed growing in it, and a cornfield 
on one or more sides of it, is the best. If it has corn 
all around it, that is still better. There you will also 
find them in the evening after it grows cool. In this 
country you can also find them, and the sharp-tailed 
grouse, especially the latter, in the wild grass in the 
mornings and evenings. The prairie chicken is a 
grouse and the sharp-tailed grouse are first cousins 
to the pinnated grouse, or prairie chickens, and are 
fully as good eating and furnish as good sport in hunt- 
ing. They are not quite as large as the pinnated 
grouse, however." 

By this time we had an'ived in the neighborhood of 
the place where I had marked down some of the birds 
from the last covey. Chic was working industriously 
and in such a manner as convinced me that she had 
also marked the birds. She went straight to vei*y 
nearly where they were, quartered once or twice, 
roaded, and drew steadily and slowly down to a beauti- 
ful point. We were soon up to her, and walked in and 
flushed the bird, which got up in front of Will and 
sailed away to the left. 

"Shoot! shoot!" I yelled, but no report came from his 
gun. Waiting until I was forced to conclude that he 
was not going to shoot, I sent a load of eights after 
the fleeing bird, but got only feathers for my pains. 

Chic looked up at Will and growled out: "Why didn't 
you shoot?" 

"I don't know what is the matter," said Will, hand- 
ing his gun to me, "my gun wouldn't go off." 

I didn't take the proffered gun, but merely pointed 
to the safety, through the little slot of which the word 
"safe" peered mischievously. Will turned the color of 
the "red, red rose," and muttered something that 
wouldn't look well in print. 

"Never mind," said I. "That happens to all of us 
sometiimes." 

As we drew near the wagon at noon, ready for lunch 
and the good ice-cold coffee which was put up in two 



OiiTC AND I 221 

beer bottles and packed in a pail between two pieces 
of ice, and which tastes better than anything that can 
be imagined when out on a trip lilie that, Will sud- 
denly raised his gun and fired at a meadowlark that 
flew up before us. Unluckily he hit it. 

"Oh, don't do that!" I exclaimed, but too late. 

"Why not?" asked he. 

"For several reasons. In the first place, what is the 
good of wantonly taking the life that God has gitven 
and which we cannot replace? The bird is fit for food, 
it is true, but so small that you wouldn't think of tak- 
ing it home. Its little life has been wasted, then, to 
afford you an instant's satisfaction. They are so 
pretty, too, and fill the air with their music. It's 
wrong to destroy any of the beautiful song birds 
wantonly and without purpose. When we came out 
this morning don't you remember how you remarked 
on the pleasure of hearing the first lark that sang for 
us? Didn't it add to the pleasure of the ti-iip?- 
Secondly, many farmers and farmers' wives and 
daughters are vei-y fond of the few song birds that we 
have here, and sti-ongly object to having them killed. 
I have had many of them say to me that they wouldn't 
care if fellows would come on their land and shoot 
what game they wanted, but, they say, these fellows 
come out from town and shoot everything they come 
across, without any distinction or discrimination, and 
they don't like it. It keeps up a continual fusilade 
around their homes and destroys the harmless and 
beautiful song birds which help to gladden their oft- 
times dreary labor. Thirdly—" 

"Hold on," cried Will, throwing up his hands, "that's 
enough." 

"Yes," I said, "I know that's enough. At least it 
ought to be. You are not cruel by nature; just a little 
thoughtless, that's all. Now that it has been mentioned 
to you, sentiments of humanity will prevent a repeti- 
tion of the act. But there is still another reason which, 
from a selfish standpoint, is more important still. Chic 



222 CHIC AND t 

saw that bird fly, saw you aim at it, and saw the bird 
fall when you shot. What more natural than that she 
should come to the conclusion that you wanted those 
birds and she should begin to point meadowlarks? 
Meadowlarks have a scent a great deal liike a prairie 
chicken or quail anyway, and it is not infrequently the 
case that old dogs are fooled by them. I never shoot 
anything when out with Chic that I do not want her 
to think is game. I have never even shot a rabbit 
when out with her. I don't want her to get to pointing 
rabbits, and therefore I haven't shot any. By not 
pointing them, I mean I don't want hei* to hunt for 
them, track them, road them, etc. Of course, if she 
suddenly comes on the scent of a rabbit she will wheel 
into a point, and I do not chide her for it; it i)s game 
and it is natural for her to point it. But she never 
pays any further attention to them. But if I should 
begin shooting rabbits over her, have her retrieve them, 
and all that sort of thing, she would soon leani to hunt 
for them as assiduously as she now does for chickens or 
quails." 

"I see what you mean, and I won't shoot any more 
meadowlarks," said Will. 

After lunch was over we enjoyed a pipe apiece and 
then I took the birds out of my pockets and laid them 
out in front of me. 

"What are you going to do?" asked Will. 

"Draw these birds," said I. "This is a pretty warm 
day for this time of the year, and when it is as warm 
as this, the quicker the birds are drawn the better they 
are. Every hunter should learn to take care of his 
game. It frequently saves it from spoiling." 

It was the work of only a few moments to draw the 
birds, pull some of the dead grass and stuff it inside of 
them, put them in the buggy with the few little pieces 
of ice we had left, and cover the whole with a blanket. 
We rested a little while longer and then went to work 
again. 

Wlien we started for home we drove a little out of 



CHIC AND t 22^ 

our way to go through some little valleys— called 
caiions by the natives— which were full of quails. Ar- 
riving at one of the more promising ones, we jumped 
out, tied our horse, and started up the caiion. We 
walked along a path that ran up the center of the 
little valley— for that is what it was, as it had no more 
resemblance to a canon than it had to a mountain- 
while Chic worked along through the brush that lined 
one side. Soon I heard a i-ustling and chirping, and, 
stooping down, I looked underneath the branches of 
the brush and saw a covey of quails running in front 
of the dog. Poor Chic did not know what to do. The 
quails would run a little way and then stop and look 
around with inquiring eyes. Chic would move care- 
fully up to within scenting distance, and by the time 
she got nicely settled into a point the quails were on 
the run again. I told Will what was going on, and then 
telling him to be ready and be on the lookout, I tossed 
a stick into the brush where the birds were. Out they 
went with a roar, and to our four barrels but one bird 
fell. Will said he aimed at that one and so I said I 
guessed he got it, and it went into his sack. But the 
birds did not fly far before they settled in some long 
grass just at the bottom, and on the other side of a 
sloping hill. We followed them, and had some very 
nice shooting on singles and doubles. I found that 
they were of a different color from the CalifomLa 
birds, and, being a lighter color, were an easier mark. 
They laid better for the dog, did not flush so wild, and 
did not fly as fast when flushed. Nor did they require 
near as much killing. On the whole, while not what 
would be called an easy bird to kill, yet they are much 
easier than their California cousins. Following on up 
the caiion we soon had another covey up, and also 
had some nice shooting from that. 

It was getting late and darkness bade fair to overtake 
us before we got home, so we turned back and pro- 
ceeded on our return journey. We had had a day full 
of sport and pleasure, and one that left no regrets to 



224 CHIC AND I 

mar its recollections, except that Will remarked once 
that he wished he hadn't killed that meadowlark. 
Arriving home Chic was well rubbed with a flannel 
cloth— an operation which she heartily enjoyed— and 
given a good supper of table scraps with a generous 
sprinkling of meat, after which she demurely walked 
over to her corner and dropped onto her bed with a 
tired yawn of satisfaction, licked her chops a few 
times, looked at me, and remarked that she hoped we 
would go agaiin soon, and then dropped off to sleep. 



CHArTER XXV 

A Day with the Ducks. 

"Well, ^yill, liavc you tried your hand at the ducks 
yet?" I asked my friend of the former chapter, one nice 
morning. 

"Not yet," he replied, "but I am ready to go at any 
time." 

"Well, things are rather quiet now, so what do you 
say to this afternoon?" 

"All right; I'm agreeable. What time shall we start?" 

"Just as soon as we can. Get an early dinner and 
we'll try and be off at half past twelve." 

"All right; I'll be ready." 

A few minutes later my friend's clerk came to my 
office and said Will wanted me to come and go to din- 
ner with him; to bring Chic and the gun with me and 
we w^ould start from his house. He had already 
ordered a two-seated conveyance to report at his house 
at 12:30 o'clock. I wondered what that two-seated 
conveyance was for, and when I got to the house I dis- 
covered that Mrs. J— was going with us. In the mean- 
time it had clouded up and looked like rain. After a 
delicious dinner, such as only Mrs. J—, Will's wife, can 
cook, we found that a slight drizzle which bade fair to 
increase and last all the afternoon, had already set in. 
I tried to dissuade the lady from going, but it was of 
no use. She said we needed someone to hold the horse 
and she was going anyway. I admired her grit and 
thought she was a jewel of a wife for a sportsman to 
have. The rig was a large two-seated carriage; did 
not look much like a hunting outfit, but proved to be a 



226 CHIC AND I 

first-class affair for a rainy day. We started promptly 
at the time agreed upon and drove up the canal. The 
lake which I have mentioned before was an artificial 
one, formed by the waters of the river flowing down 
through a canal for about eleven miles into a natural 
basin, the outlet of which had been closed by a large 
dam. At the head of the canal was a large tract of 
marshy ground. The water was clear and sweet, being 
the product of springs mingled with the overflow from 
the river. Wild rice, celery, smartweed and water- 
cresses grew there in profusion, and it was a favorite 
haunt for mallards, canvas-backs, redheads and pin- 
tails. 

As we drove along up the canal we whiled away the 
time with hunting stories and jokes, and Mrs. J— rap- 
idly developed a true sportsman's enthusiasm and be- 
gan to talk about buying a gun for herself, which idea 
I did not discourage. How much better it would be 
for many of our housed-up women if they would take 
an occasional trip with their husbands or brothers, 
with a dog and gun, and drink in health and life from 
Nature's fountain! How much pleasanter, and how 
much sweeter the recollections from an afternoon with 
the birds, than the recollections of an afternoon spent 
at some neighbor's discoursing on the failings of other 
women, or an afternoon spent in that abomination of 
women— fashionable calls! Chic was racing along 
through the fields and covering evei^^ possible hiding 
place for birds. Now I think I hear someone ask: 

"I thought you always let Chic ride out and run back. 
How does it happen that she is running out this time?" 

Tlie explanation is very simple. It was cool weather; 
we werenot going to have enough work to get her heated 
and tired anyway, and so, as she would rather run, I 
let her do so. If it had been warm weather and she 
had a hard day's work before her, she would have had 
a place in the carriage on the way out. Suddenly Mrs. 
J— exclaimed; 



CHIC AND 



227 



*'Look at Chic! What's the matter with her? Has 
she got cramps?" 
Sure enough, Chic loolied as though she had a cramp. 








"look at chic! has she got cramps r 



She had been running across wind and suddenly got a 
hot scent at her right. She had stopped with her head 
at a right angle with her body, her body curved and the 
weight on the front feet, while one hindfoot was poise4 



228 CHIC AND I 

in the air as though frozen. She was not in a graceful 
position, but it was a point to make a sportsman's heart 
bound. For answer I tossed the lines to Mrs. J— and 
leaped out of the carriage. Will's gun was still in the 
case and he did not get out. I walked up and Chic's 
point proved to be on a bevy of quails, and I made a 
nice double on them when they rose. I walked back 
to the carriage and found Mrs. J— in a fever of excite- 
ment. 

"Oh, I never saw a dog on a point before! Do they 
always twist themselves up that way when they point? 
How did she know the birds were there? Did she see 
them? Smell them! Nonsense! She couldn't smell 
them as far as that. Will, you must get me a gun right 
away. I'm going to learn to shoot! Didn't it look nice to 
see those two birds come down? My, won't they taste 
good broiled, with a little hot butter and pepper and 
salt over them, and some nice cream gravy on the side!" 

Well, well, well! Wasn't that enough to warm my 
old bachelor heart? And when I looked at her and saw 
how bright her eyes were, how beautifully her cheeks 
were tinted with a color not of man's making, how in- 
terested and enthused she was, I could not but think 
what a pity it was that our fair ladies did not oftener 
brighten and gladden the chase. 

Arriving at the head of the canal where the swamp 
opened out before us we saw many birds pitching down 
into the upper part of the marsh. I knew where they 
were going and expected to have some fine sport there. 
Looking a little ahead we were electrified to see eight 
large mallards drop into a little hole not ninety yards 
away. The horses were drawn back almost on their 
haunches in our hurried stop, and rapid preparations 
were made for a "sneak" on those audacious birds. 
Chic had been placed in the carriage before that so 
that she might not alarm any ducks. Will hastily 
drew his gun out of the case and was about to put it 
together when I stopped him. 

"For heavens sake, Will, don't do that!" I exclaimed. 



CHIC AND I 229 

It was a very saudy country where we were and the 
sand had drifted into the carriage and found its way 
into his case. The breech of the barrels and the end 
of the stock were coated with sand which had col- 
lected on the oil, and he was about to put his gun 
together regardless of the sand, and without even 
wiping it off. 

"What's the matter?" he asked, looking at me with 
anxious eyes, for he was fairly trembling with eager- 
ness to get at those mallards. 

"You've got a brand uew^ gun and you are doing the 
very best thing you can to ruin it in very short order. 
Don't you see that sand?" said I. 

"Oh, that don't make any difference," he replied. 

"Don't make any difference! Why, don't you know 
that that sand will cut out those bearings so that your 
gun will be as loose as the habits of a professional 
gambler?" I remarked. 

"I thought an L. C. Smith gun couldn't get loose," he 
replied with a smile as he proceeded to wipe off the 
sand before he assembled the gun. 

"They can't, if they are handled with half the care 
that a gun ought to be," 1 retorted, "but you can take 
a hammer and loosen them or you can file them out 
with a file, or with emery, or with flint sand. When 
you get a good gun take good care of it and it will be a 
pleasure to you all your life." 

"But those birds I" exclaimed Will. "They'll fly w^hile 
you stand here preaching." 

"No, they won't. They haven't seen us move since 
they lit. We are screened behind that clump of wil- 
lows. The birds are feeding and will stay there all 
the afternoon unless they are disturbed." 

He now being ready we started. We had a long 
"sneak" to make in the open prairie with nothing but 
the grass to hide us. After getting around the clump 
of willows we went forward a little way in a stooping 
posture and then dropped to our hands and knees. 
Chic had followed cautiously at our heels, stepping care- 



230 CHIC AND I 

fully and seeming to know as well as we did what we 
were up to. As we dropped to our bauds aud knees I 
made a backward motion with my band aud Cbic stopped 
and sat down. Sbe did not offer to stir, but watched 
us eagerly. After a little advance in this manner we 
dropped flat on our stomachs and, by the aid of toes 
and elbows, wormed ourselves along. At last we could 
hear the quacking and splashing of the ducks, I knew 
we were near enough and, touching AVill with my el- 
bow, I nodded to him as a signal that he should get 
ready, and we rose to our feet. What a fluttering and 
quacking there was among those frightened ducks! 
As they rose tw^o crossed in the air just as I got a nice 
aim at one of them. I pulled the trigger in the nick of 
time and had the satisfaction of seeing both fall. With 
the second barrel I dropped an old greenhead that was 
a little slower than the rest in getting in motion. 

"I got one, anyway!" said Will. 

Only the three had fallen. 

"Did you get that last one?" 1 asked. 

"Of course not," he replied. "You shot that after 1 
had shot both barrels, but when we both shot our first 
barrels two ducks fell. I got one of them." 

"Did you aim at it?" I asked. 

"Well, no, not exactly at that particular one. They 
were so thick w^hen they got up that I shot right into 
the bunch. But I know I must have hit one." 

"All right," said I, as I picked up the biggest one 
and handed it to him. "I guess this is yours." I was 
morally certain that I had killed all three of the birds, 
but I would not have claimed them when he thought 
he had killed one, for anything. I did not want to dis- 
courage him, nor did I want to seem selfish. Deliver 
me from the hunting companion who claims every bird 
that falls, and who never misses! Especially is that 
sort of a man a danitper on the enthusiasm of a young 
sportsman. It soon makes the novice feel as though 
he could not hit a "flock of haystacks" standing still, 
and he feels disheartened and dispirited. We had no 



CHIC AND I 231 

need for €hic to retrieve, for the water was shallow 
and we both had on mackintosh hip boots; but I hap- 
pened to think that she was still sitting back there 
waiting to be invited to join in the sport, and so I 
motioned to her. How she did come! As she ap- 
proached I stretched out my hand with the palm of 
the hand toward her and she immediately' checked her 
headlong career and quietly dropped in to heel. Then, 
with the words "dead bird!" I waved her on and let 
her go in and retrieve the last bird, which had fallen on 
the farther side of the little pond. Then we motioned 
to Mrs. J—, who, at the report of the guns, had driven 
around the clump of willows, and she drove up with the 
team. 

"I saw them fall!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. 
"Did you get any, Will?" 

"I got this one," he replied, proudly holding up a nice, 
fat greenhead. 

"Oh, what a beauty!" she exclaimed, stroking its 
glossy feathers. 

"Yes," 1 remarked, "they are very beautiful, and if 
you want me to I will take the skin off these heads and 
tan it for you, and if we can get a few more, they will 
make a pretty little cap, or bonnet." 

"Oh, I'd like that ever so much," she replied. "I 
never thought of that, but I should think they would 
make a beautiful bonnet." 

"Let me tell you something, Will," said I. "Never 
take your chances on firing at a flock of birds. If you 
want to experiment try it once or twice on a flock of 
blackbirds. Wait till you see them so thick that it 
seems impossible for the shot to go through without 
hitting one, and then give it to them. Shoot right at 
the thickest part of the bunch and see how many you 
will get. You'll be surprised at not getting any, but 
that will be the result nine times out of ten." 

"But that's the way I got this one," he protested. 

"That was a scratch, the merest accident," I replied, 
with a quiet smile, for I thought I knew how he got 



232 CHIC AND I 

that one. "It probablj' woiildu't happen again in a 
good while." 

"What do you do, then?" he asked. 

"Always pick out some particular bird and take good 
aim at it, calculating distance and speed the same as 
you would if the bird was alone. It is a hard thing to 
do at first, and requires as much practice as any other 
part of the sport, but it has to be learned or you will 
never be successful as a wing shot." 

We drove on up toward the place where I had seen 
the ducks dropping in. Climbing carefully out of the 
carriage I threw a sack of decoys over my shoulder, 
motioned Chic to heel, and we started. Going care- 
fully through the brush we soon came to a place where 
we could part the branches and look through. At about 
thirty-five yards' distance the water seemed black with 
ducks; mallards principally, but many pintails, red- 
heads, and a few canvas-backs. It was all I could do 
to keep Will from shooting. In fact it was about all 
I wanted to do to keep myself from shooting. 

"Why not?" he inquired, impatiently. 

"For this reason," I replied. "We have got all the 
afternoon before us. We want more than two shots 
apiece. If we shoot into that flock those that we don't 
kill will go off and not come back again to-day. If we 
rout them out without much noise or disturbance and 
then go over to that towhead and set our decoys and 
conceal ourselves in the blind that I made there last 
week, they will come back, a half dozen or so at a 
time, and we will have some fine shooting." 

For fear the temptation would prove too strong for 
both of us, I here parted the covering branches and 
quietly moved out in front of them. Most of the ducks 
flew at once, but a few of them couldn't believe that 
one who came so quietly could have any evil intentions 
and swam uneasily around, cocking their heads and 
looking at us with their bright eyes. They soon took 
flight and we waded across the shallow channel, put 
«ut our decoys and ensconced ourselves in our blinds. 



CHIC AND i 233 

Chic was provided with a gunny sack, half filled with 
straw, to lie on, while she had her own blanket of 
heavily woolen lined ducking, to cover her. The water 
that dripped from her ran through the sack and 
through the straw, while the blanket afforded ample 
warmth. We had not been there many minutes when 
the clouds parted and the sun shone out with such 
seductive warmth that my companion was soon sound 
asleep. Chic, too, by the gentle snores she emitted, 
showed that for once the charms of Morpheus had over- 
come those of fair Diana. Our decoys were of canvas 
and, as there was a slight current where they were 
set, they floated and swam around in tlie most lifelike 
manner. As I snt watching them a shadow flitted 
over the ground nt my side. Looking up quickly in 
the direction of the sun I saw a large hawk poising his 
wings for a swoop on our decoys. Canvas decoys cost 
money and I didn't care to have them torn by the 
talons of the hawk. I had hardly comprehended what 
was going to happen when he closed his wings and 
shot downward like a cannon ball. I had no time to 
aim, or even raise my gun, so I just pulled the trigger. 
At the sound of the gun the hawk spread his wings, 
stopped his downward flight and tried to get away. 
But he was too late. A load of sixes, at close range, 
reached his vitals and he closed his wings and fell. 
Will juujped up and commenced to upbraid me for not 
waking liim and giving him a shot. Chic looked like 
an animated interrogation point as she eagerly gazed 
in every direction to see what I had shot. Seeing the 
hawk floating down tlie stream she whined for per- 
mission to go and get it. While I was explaining to 
Will what had happened he commenced to laugh. 1 
looked in tlK^ direction he pointed and saw a torn and 
ragged picne of canvas flapping and tugging at a string, 
by means of which it was fastened to something at the 
bottom of the water. Whence comes this horrible sus- 
picion? Can it be possible? Yes, it is! It is one of the 
decoys that I had tried to save! The first barrel, which 



234 CHIC AND I 

had been shot without looking where it was pointed, 
had been as disastrous to the decoy as the second barrel 
had to the hawk. 

But quiet soon brooded over our blind again. As 
we sat there talking, eight or ten mallards came in 
from behind, and came so quietly that they were 
preparing to alight when we first saw them. 



xS^" 



■' t' - ' 




^/< 



'SHE DELIKEKATELY BACKED OUT OF THE WATER AND 
DRAGGED THE FIGHTIN(J AND UNWILLING mRD AFTER 
HER." 

"Now, you take the birds on the left and I'll take 
those on the right," I whispered, and, as they set their 
wings, I muttered: "Now!" and four barrels poured 
forth their deadly hail. We each got one bird and I 
complimented Will profusely on his skill. He was visi- 
bly pleased to get as many as I did, while I felt rather 
ashamed at not getting more, for it was a beautiful 



CHIC AND I 235 

oppoitimity. One of the ducks was killed stone dead, 
but the other, although hard hit, was not killed out- 
right. Chic was sent after them and undertook to re- 
trieve the wounded one first, as she properly should. 
The duck was trying hard to dive, but the nature of 
its injuries was such that it could not quite get under 
water. It could get its head and back down, but could 
get no farther and this left its tail fluttering and strug- 
gling above the water. Chic seized this and attempted 
to lift the bird up. She got it partly out of the water 
when the feathers slipped through her teeth and the 
duck fell back again. Again she grabbed the deceptive 
tail feathers and tried to lift the duck up so as to fetch 
it out, and again the tail feathers slipped between her 
teeth. Two or three times this was repeated, the duck 
meanwhile continuing its frantic struggles. Then Chic, 
having lost the duck the third or fourth time, seemed 
to understand that although she could not lift that 
bird out of the water by its tail, yet she could drag it, 
for she took another hold, and instead of trying to lift 
the bird up she deliberately backed out of the water 
and dragged the fighting and unwilling bird after her. 
It was a comical sight. Having gotten the bird out of 
the water it was at her mercy and she soon laid it at 
my feet and went back after the other one. From that 
time on the birds continued coming back to their favor- 
ite feeding spot and we had fine and regular shooting 
until it was time to start home. We went back to the 
carriage and found Mrs. J— patiently awaiting us. 
She had amused herself looking up vari-colored 
grasses, had found a quail's nest, had seen a hawk 
catch a bird, and altogether had not found the time 
monotonous. She had heard our shots and was anxious 
to know what we had killed, and was delighted when 
she saw our success. On the way back Mrs. J— again 
called our attention to Chic. She was making a rather 
uncertain point, but still it was evident that there was 
something there. Will and I got out of the carriage and 



236 CHIC AND I 

walked toward her, when we saw something moving 
in the grass ahead of her. 

"What is that?" I asked. 

"Looks like a goose," said Will. 

"A goose!" I exclaimed. "It's rather early for geese, 
and then who ever heard of a lone goose out on the 
prairie that way?" 

Nevertheless a goose it was, for just then it came 
into plain view. 

"It must be badly wounded," said I, "to be off here 
on the prairie all alone." 

As if to controvert my statement the goose rose and 
flew. We watched it and saw that it lit over in the 
sandhills about six or seven hundred yards from 
where we were. I was satisfied that it was or had 
been wounded, but it could not be very badly hurt or 
it could not fly that far. We went after it, and when 
we got nearly there a dispute arose as to which way 
the bird had gone. So Will went one way and I an- 
other to look for it. Chic was ranging in front of me 
and hunting most hapipily. Suddenly she stopped, 
sniffed the air suspiciously, and then commenced to 
road. The grass was long and tangled; there were 
some wild rose bushes there, on the buds of which the 
grouse feed, and altogether it was a very likely looking 
place for grouse. I debated with myself whether it 
WHS grouse or that goose, and opened my gun to put 
in some smaller shot instead of the twos I had in, when 
Chic pointed. I reflected that the twos would kill a 
grouse, while sixes might not kill a goose. I closed 
the gun again and walked up and flushed the goose, 
for that was what it was, and, letting it get away about 
thirty yards, knocked it down. Chic retrieved it nicely, 
but protested that from quails to prairie chickens, from 
prairie chickens to mallards, and from mallards to 
geese was quite a progression, and that if the birds 
continued to get heavier in this ratio she would soon 
have to have a basket. It struck me as rather odd to 



1 



CHIC AND I 237 

he hunting geese on the prairie with a pointer dog. 
wliich is the reason why I mention the incident. 

On the way home Will asked me where I got my 
shooting clothes. 

"Why," said I, "this coat I bought here in A , at 

the hardware store. I took it to the tailor and had him 
put in this lining. The coat is of heavy ducking, wind 
and water proof, the lining is what tailors call blanket 
lining and is very heavy woolen. It makes a good, 
warm, wind and water proof coat, is dead grass color, 
and will not tear easily. The pants are of the same 
stuff and lined the same way. They cost more than 
the coat, because I had to have them made. The coat 
can be bought at any gun store for from a dollar and a 
half to two dollars; j^our wife can line it for you. I like 
them much better than I do corduroy. Corduroy is 
neither wind nor water proof; it is too light and cool 
for Winter and too heavy for Summer. If you have 
occasion to crawl, as you frequently do in duck hunt- 
ing, your knees are wet the very first thing, if you 
wear corduroys. A good, heavy, dead grass color 
canvas coat and pants, well lined, are the proper gar- 
ments for Fall and Winter shooting. Then I always 
wear a skeleton coat like this, too. It is handier to 
carry shells and game, and can be slipped on or off in 
a jiffy. It will go on over any coat. You can wear it 
without any coat at all, or you can put it on over your 
overcoat. Then you also need a cap, a heavy overcoat, 
well lined, and a rubber-filled waterproof coat for rainy 
weather. With such an outfit, with mackintosh hip 
boots, you are fixed for any kind of weather." 

"What do you wear in Summer?" 

"Oh, wear out your old clothes. It doesn't make any 
difference what you wear for field work. Anything 
that is comfortable and does not tear too easily will do 
for that." 

My feet beginning to feel tired with my heavy boots, 
I i)ulled off the latter and slipped on a pair of shoes 
which I had with me. The mackintosh waders bein^' 



238 CHIC AND I 

large and heavy, I alwa.vs wore a pair of shoes until I 
was ready to use the boots, and carried the boots in the 
buggy. 

"What kind of shoes are those?" asked Will, as he 
picked one up and began to examine it. 

"Well, that is something new," I replied. "1 have 
always had a great deal of trouble with my feet. They 
are very tender and the heavy boots and shoes gener- 
ally used for hunting always hurt me. Did you ever 
wear any cardovan shoes?" 

"Why, yes," said he, looking rather puzzled at the 
sudden change of the subject. 

"Well," said I, "you know how they last. Can hardly 
wear them out. Well, cardovans are made of horse- 
hide; at least so I nm told, so when I saw this shoe 
advertised in the American Field and it was claimed 
to be made of horsehide, I thought that it would be a 
good wearing shoe. The advertisement went on to say 
that it was oil tanned and soft as a glove, and it im- 
mediately occurred to me that that was just what 1 
needed for my tender feet. I had my measure taken 
by a home shoemaker and sent it on to the maker of 
these shoes. He made the shoes and sent them on to 
me. They are a perfect fit, although I had them made 
a little large purposely, and they have never given me 
a moment's discomfort. No cruel breaking in was neces- 
sary, but they felt comfortable and easy the very first 
time I ever put them on. See how soft they are! They 
are warranted not to get hard. They are perfectly 
waterproof and what is of equal importance, dust 
proof. Many a time I have been out in the field and 
come home with my feet and socks perfectly hideous 
with dust and sand which had sifted through my shoes. 
but that never happens with this shoe. They are soft 
and easy as a glove, and as for wear— T do not believe 
they will ever wear out." 

"That is a queer sole. What is it?" queried Will. 

"It is what is called electric sole. I do not know 
exactly what it is, but it is made of cowhide tanned by 



CHIC AND I 239 

a new process. You see there are two thicknesses of it 
and they are cemented together with a rubber cement, 
making it impossible for any water or dampness to get 
through. They are also soft and pliable, as you see, 
nnd are the easiest walking shoe that I ever had on. 
They are handmade and handsewed, and do not look 
bad either." 

"Guess I'll have to get a pair of them,"' remarked 
Will. "My feet gall some in hot weather when I do 
much, walking." 

"Well, you will never miss it if you get a pair of 
shoes like these. My feet never gall in these shoes. 
They used to in spite of all I could do. I have a pair 
of boots of the same material, too. They are eighteen 
inches high and are simply perfect for snipe or marsh 
hunting, or for any work that doesn't require deep 
wading. I wouldn't be without these boots and shoes 
for anything if I couldn't get any more like them." 

"I shouldn't think they would make much noise." 
said Will, eyeing them. "They ought to be a good 
thing for stalking game of any kind." 

"They can't be beat for that," I replied. "They are 
absolutely noiseless. There is no squeaking or crunch- 
ing. You can walk as silently as though in rubbers or 
moccasins." 

"Are they very expensive?" 

"Not very. They cost no more than any other good 
shoe. They are well worth their cost, and more too." 

It had begun to rain and was now pouring in tor- 
rents, and we soon arrived home, dripping wet, but 
hai>py nnd contented. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

Old Honkers* 

Ansei' Canadensis, Canada goose, cravat goose, big 
gray goose, big Hutcliins goose. Call them what you 
will, there is no name by which the bird of which this 
chapter treats is so well and favorably known as 
"honkers," and generally with the adjective "old" pre- 
fixed. Imagine a group of sportsmen gathered in some 
gun store of an evening swapping yarns about tlieir 
last trips, talking about the best loads for breaking 
targets or discussing the latest feats at the trap with 
the scattergun. Some are seated on the counter swing- 
ing their feet and marring the varnish; some are seated 
astride of chairs with their arms resting on the backs 
of the chairs, jome are tilted back in their chairs, all 
in positions of easy comfort, when one of them speaks 
up, saying: 

"Did I ever tell you about my last experience with the 
Anser Canadensis V 

Well, what did you say happened? Threw him out. 
did they? Well, do you blame them? 

You will never hear that in a gun store, but rather, 
some fellow with a sweet brier pipe between his teeth, 
will exclaim: 

"You oughtor a seen me knock the stuffin' out of an 
old honker the last time I was out!" 

The crowd looks eagerly for the coming yarn. 

I had been watching the flight of the geese for sev- 
eral days and thought I knew where they came into the 
river. It was late in the Pall and the geese had been 
coming in for a week or more and were now with us 



CHIC AND I 241 

iu profusion. They roosted on the sandbars in the 
river. Each morning at the faintest indication of dawn 
they rose iu great flocks and went out into the stub- 
bles and cornfields to feed. About ten or eleven o'clock 
they returned to the river to drink, paddle around in 
the water, and sleep on the sandbars. About two 
o'clock iu the afternoon they went out agaiu and re- 
turned again about sundown. This was their regular 
program on pleasant days. On stormy and cloudy days 
their behavior was somewhat different. On such days 
they would not go out so early in the morning, and 
frequently would not come in until four or five o'clock 
in the afternoon, and then not go out again that night, 
making only one trip instead of two. They always go 
out against the wind, returning with it. I suppose 
tliey find it easier to fly against the wind before .they 
have dined heavily than afterward. They go out with 
empty crops and come back, with the wind, with full 
ones. Having located the flight of the birds I dropped 
into Will's store one day and asked him how he would 
like to take a trip after them in the morning. 

"I've only been waiting for you to say the word," he 
replied. 

"All right, we'll try them to-morrow." 

"Do we have to start very early?" he inquired, some- 
what anxiously. 

"No, not very. Seven o'clock will do for river shoot- 
ing. You see, they are on the sandbars all night and 
thej^ keep a good lookout. It would be impossible to 
sneak up on them. When they go out they fly pretty 
high, and we couldn't get a shot at them then. If we 
were going out into the stubble to shoot from a blind, 
then we would have to get up very early so as to be 
in the stubble before the birds arrived. In river shoot- 
ing we can't expect to get any shooting as they go out, 
but we want to be on hand to give them a warm 
reception when they return to the river in the middle 
of the day. If we start by seven, or seven-thirty, it 
will give us plenty of time. We have about an hour'p 



242 CHIC AND I 

drive, and then must wade into the river over to a 
towhead I have marked. We have no blind to build, 
for I attended to that a week ago." 

"What's a towhead?" asked Will. 

"Why, it's one of those little islands, or sandbars, 
covered with long grass and brush and undergrowth. 
The birds are pretty apt to shy them, but I know a 
little one right in the line of their flight and so far from 
shore and from any other towhead that they don't seem 
to pay very much attention to it. I went out there and 
looked it over. It is an ideal place. It is high enough 
to be dry; there is growth enough on it to afford ample 
concealment, and there are good places to set decoys 
on each side of the towhead. Right at the highest 
part of the land there are a couple of small bushes 
and at their feet grows a grapevine. It was only a 
few minutes' work to train this grapevine around the 
bushes in such a way as to make a capital blind." 

"Do we want to set decoys on each side of tlie tow- 
head?" 

"Oh, no; that is not necessary. We will set our 
decoys according to the way the wind blows. You see 
the birds come in from their feeding grounds 
with the wind. Now, if the wind is blow- 
ing from north to south, then the birds will come 
in from the north. But they alwaj^s light against the 
wind. So in order to alight they have got to swing and 
come back up the wind. Now, we must set our decoys 
to the north of our blind so that the birds can see them 
readily when they come in. But if we set them exactly 
north, then the birds coming in from the north will go 
past the decoys, turn and come up to them from the 
south so as to alight against the wind. This will bring 
them exactly over our blind and that makes, for me, 
at least, a hard shot. But suppose we set our decoys 
in the above case northwest of our blind, say four or 
five yards north and ten to fifteen yards west, accord- 
ing to the surroundings. Then the birds coming in 



CniC AND 1 243 

from llio north, swiui^iiig ami coming up to tlie decoys 
against the wind, will prepare to aliglit among the 
decoys and will give us beautiful side shots, which are 
the easiest as well as the most deadly at a distance of 
not more than thirty to thirty-five yards, and probably 
less." 

"Got that figured down fine, haven't you?" 

"Well, you've got to figure things down pretty fine 
if you expect to get honkers. They're the wariest birds 
we have to deal with in this country." 

"What kind of decoys have you got?" 

"I've got a couple dozen galvanized iron profiles. 
They're first rate. Geese decoy easily if you are in 
their line of flight and keep still. The fellow that can 
keep still and not even wink when the birds are com- 
ing right at him is the fellow who will get them. They 
are very sharp-eyed, and the slightest motion is marked 
by them; then you'll hear some old fellow give a warn- 
ing squawk and they'll all begin to climb up out of 
sight. But as for decoys, they are easily made. If you 
want real cheap ones get some good broad shingles, 
whittle out the shape of the body of the goose, getting 
a decoj' like mine for a copy. Then take another piece 
of shingle and whittle out the head and neck. Fasten 
this onto the body with a slim screw so that it can be 
folded down, tack a stick onto the bottom to stick into 
the ground, paint it a good color, similar to that of the 
goose, and there you have it, a cheap decoy and a good 
one, too. The best decoy, however, I think, is the can- 
vas one. Their cost is the only objection to them. 
Thoj^ are very expensive, and are easily injured or 
destroyed. My decoys are the iron ones with folding 
neck and leg. They are good and substantial and are 
not easily injured, but they are pretty heavy to carry 
very far." 

"Shall we take a lunch?" 

"Oh, yes. Take a good, big one, too. We'll stay all 
day, and we'll get ravenously hungry. We've got an 



244 CHIC AND I 

elegant bliud autl, if it's a good day, we'll have some 
nice sport." 

"Will you take Chic?" 

"Oh, I guess not. A dog is generally a nuisance 
when hunting geese. Don't have much use for one 
then," 

"Oh, take her along. She minds so well you'll have 
no trouble in keeping her still. See how she looks at 
you right now. She knows what we are talking about 
and is begging to go." 

Ohic sat on her haunches, turning her bright eyes 
from one to the other of us, and certainly appeared to 
know what we were saying. As Will concluded his 
little plea in her behalf, she jumped up, put her paws 
up pleadingly and whined a little, and who can deny 
that she spoke and begged to go? It was more than I 
could stand and I said: 

"Oh, well, I'll think about it." 

Next morning about seven-thirty Will and 1 were on 
our way up the river; Chic ran along beside us and 
hunted every fence corner and promising nook most 
industriously. Here is another departure from your 
rule, says someone. Well, it is said that it is the ex- 
ception that proves the rule. This was a cold morning 
in Winter. There was ice on the river and little patches 
of snow here and there. There was no work for Chic 
to do at the end of the drive. She would be cool enough 
to have a good nose even if she did run, and if she 
was not it would not make much difference anywny. 
It was better for her to run and keep herself warm by 
circulating the blood than it was to have her sit shiv- 
ering in the buggy; so I let her run. No particular rule 
can be given which can be rigidly adhered to In all 
cases; judgment must be used. 

A ride of about an hour brought us to a place op- 
posite our bliud. The river here was fully a mile wide 
and full of sandbars and towheads, between which 
the water flowed, occasionally with a very swift cur- 
rent, but generally rather placidly. Ice had formed 



CHIC AND I 245 

over most of these places, but here and there was a 
channel deeper and swifter than the rest in which 
the current ran deep and strong. The river was not 
deep at any place, and a man with waders could wade 
it anywhere; but there were several places where a 
man with only hip boots must go carefully. Another 
great danger to be guarded against was quicksand. 
The treacherous river was full of this shifting death. 
You could wade a place in safety one day and the next 
day on attempting the same place go to your neck in 
the quicksand. It was unsafe for one person to go 
alone. 

We jumped out of the buggy, unhitched the horses, 
tied them to the fence and threw down an armful of 
hay for each horse, got out our guns, deCDys, etc., and 
prepared to start. The guns were left in their cases 
and our overcoats were carried on our arms, for should 
we get swamped in the quicksand and get thoroughly 
wet, a good dry coat would be a good thing to ride 
home in. Chic's overcoat was also carried along. 

Putting one foot on the bottom wire of the barbed 
wire fence, and lifting the next v>'ire up with my hand. 
Will crawled through. Then he performed the same 
good office for me and I followed him. Chic didn't 
need any such assistance. We plunged our way through 
the first shallow channel, across a towhead and then 
another channel, and so on toward our blind. The 
blind was situated on the last towhead out from our 
side of the river. It was more than half a mile from 
our shore, and between it and the farther side of the 
river was one solid sheet of ice. The river sweeping 
around our towhead formed a current which had pre- 
vented the ice from forming, and at the southern end, 
about fifteen yards from the blind, the towhead sloped 
off into a sandbar which was an ideal place for decoys 
when the wind was from the south, as it was then. 
The birds would come in from the west and south, and 
this towhead presented the first open water and sand- 



246 CHIC AND I 

bar for them. There was nothing to obstruct the view 
of the decoj^s and they could see them for miles. 

"Now, Will," said I, when we arrived at the blind, 
"you set out the decoys and I'll fix up the blind." 

I called Chic in and made a place for her in one 
corner, bade her lie down, and then fixed her blanket 
over her to make her comfortable, took the guns out 
of their cases and put them together, loaded them and 
leaned them up against the brush inside the blind. 
Then I looked to see how Will was getting along, and 
could not repress a smile. He had the two dozen de- 
coys set out in a row with their heads all pointing one 
way. 

"That will never do, Will," said I. 

"Why not?" asked he. 

"Why you've got their heads all pointed one way, and 
all pointed up wind at that. The birds will come in 
from that direction and they will be looking right at 
the edge of the profiles. They cannot see them at all 
that way. Besides that, when the birds are frightened 
at anything they always line up that way and all have 
their heads up. We must put them in more natural 
positions. They must be faced in all directions, so 
that no matter from which direction the birds come in 
they will always have the flat side of some of the 
decoys presented to their view. Then we must put 
some of them with their heads down as though drink- 
ing or picking at the sand, and some of them must be 
seated as though sunning themselves." 

We then rearranged the decoys and got them all nicely 
set out. This done we proceeded leisurely to the blind 
and made ourselves comfortable. It was about nine- 
thirty and I expected the flight to begin about ten 
o'clock. 

"Did you bring the sixes that I told you to?" I asked 
Will. 

"Yes, I brought seventy-five." 

"That's good. We ought to get some ducks out here 
this afternoon." 



CHIC AND 1 217 

About fifteen minutes after ten I saw a long line of 
black over the hills to the west and south, 

"Mark!" I exclaimed. "See them over there?" 

"No, I don't see anything," replied Will, already 
showing traces of excitement. 

"Look away over the hills there; just over that house. 
See?" 

"Oh, yes; I see them. Are they coming this way? 
Do you think they'll see our decoys? You must tell 
me when to shoot!" 

"Now, see here. Will; just keep your head, don't get 
rattled; when I tell you to shoot take good aim at your 
bird and be sure and get him. I'll tell you how much 
to lead him." 

The long line grew more and more distinct. At last 
a faint "Ah— unk" was borne to our expectant ears. 
Nearer and nearer swept the birds until now each 
separate form could be clearly discerned. 

"Now, Will," I whispered, "keep perfectly still. 
Don't move for your life! Never mind whether you can 
see thiem or not. I'll coach you." 

On came the great birds, making straight for our 
place of concealment. When over the ice and about 
one hundred and fifty yards from us, they swerved to 
go on up the river. I called twice and they answered 
with a great gabble. A half dozen or so left the main 
flock and started for our decoys, then wheeled and 
joined the flock again. They went some two hundred 
yards above us, then the leader circled and the whole 
flock, like trained soldiers, followed him. Now he was 
coming up the wind right toward us. 

"Call them!" whispered Will in a trembling voice. 

"Not for the world! Be absolutely quiet and im- 
movable," I replied in a scarcely audible whisper. 

On came the noble game; now we could hear the 
coarse rustle of their mighty pinions as they beat the 
air. Oh, the thrilling excitement of such a moment! 
Oh, the tingling of each nerve, the rush of hot blood 
through distended arteries! What use to call when 



218 



CHIC AND I 



the birds are coDtinually coming nearer? Now we 
could almost see their great, round eyes! Now they 
set their wings to alight among the decoys! Now the 
great, black legs were dropped down, and the black 
webbed feet thrust out! Now, now is the time! 
"Aim right at the butt of the wing of the leader. 




"OH, THE THRILLING EXCITEMENT OF SUCH A MOMENT." 

Aim carefully. Now!" The injunction was whispered 
and at the last word we rose to our knees and tired. I 
took two birds several yards back of the leader and 
had the pleasure of seeing each of them drop dead at 
the crack of the gun. It was an equal gratification to 
me to see the noble leader fold his wings and come to 
the ice with a resounding crash. Will had killed his 



CHIC AND I 249 

first goose! The strain was too much for him, how- 
ever, and his second barrel was fired at random "on 
the band" and was without result. 

"Hi-yi-yi-yi!" yelled Will, as he stood up and bran- 
dished his gun, 

"Shut up there!" i snarled savagely, and grabbing 
his coat I pulled him on his back into the blind. 

"What's the matter?" asked he, disconcertedly. 

"Why, we might have got another shot at them if 
you had kept still. Sometimes, if the birds don't dis- 
cover where the danger is, they will wheel and come 
back to the decoys. It is true they are not very apt to 
do it, but then it is possible, I've seen them do it. In- 
deed, when there is only one or two of them, it is not 
at all unusual to see them return. With a large flock 
like this, however, it is not very likely. But, for all 
that, when you are out after as wary a bird as the wild 
goose it is not good policy to be executing a war dance 
right in the camp of the enemy." 

"I see," said Will. "Excuse me, old man. I won't 
do it again. That was my first goose, you know." 

"Yes, I know; and I well remember the first goose I 
got. I killed him with the first barrel and was so elated 
that I did not fire the second barrel at all, but just 
threw down my gun and itished out and fell down on 
that goose to make sure it wouldn't get away." 

"Well, let's go out and get the birds," said Will. 

"Wait a minute. The birds can't get away. Never 
stir from the blind until you are satisfied that there is 
not a goose in sight. Look all around, toward every 
point of the compass. There, mark!" 

"Where? Where?" exclaimed Will. 

"Same place that the other flock came from. See?" 

"Yes, I see them!" 

"Now keep perfectly quiet and see if you can't get 
both your birds this time." 

Again the birds came swiftly in in almost the exact 
line of flight of their predecessors. Again they flew 
past us, circled and came back and, just as they were 



250 CHIC AND I 

about to alight, 1 gave the word. Wbat was the matter 
I am sure I don't know. We got feathers but no birds. 
Will was very much disappointed, and so was I, but I 
could only say that such things would happen and we 
must take the bitter with the sweet. Scanning the 
horizon again after the second flock had gone, and see- 
ing no birds anywhere, we ran out and picked up our 
three dead birds. I had some sticks which I had 
sharpened at both ends while we were sitting in the 
blind waiting for the first flock. Taking these out I 
tlirust one end through the under part of the bird's 
head and then placed the bird on the sand at the 
water's edge and thrust the other end of the stick down 
into the sand to support the head. This done I 
smoothed out the feathers, laid the wings nicely along 
the sides of the birds and made very nice, lifelike 
decoys out of them. I had hardly got them set out 
when the soft, sonorous "ah— unk" greeted my ears. 
Hastily scrambling to my feet I rushed for the blind. 
Two lone geese were sailing up the wind toward the 
decoys. They must have seen me, for they sheered off 
and passed about sixty yards from us. 

"It's a long shot, Will," said I, "but I guess it's our 
only show. Hold about ten feet ahead of the first one. 
Now!" 

At the word the guns cracked but the birds kept right 
on. 

"Well, you see, that was my fault. I should have 
kept a better lookout. You, too, ought to have been on 
the lookout and told me that those birds were coming. 
Now, you see, we've lost them. Mark! They're coming 
back!" 

It was even so, and as I grumbled at our lack of 
alertness the two big birds wheeled and came slowly 
back up the river. We were safely ensconsed in our 
blind and took good care to make no mistake this 
time. On they came, eyeing our decoys askance. When 
they were right opposite us I said: 

"Aim right at tlie bill of the leader. Now!" 



CHIC AND I 251 

Ae:ain our guns cracked together and, as though struck 
with the same missile of death, the two great beauties 
threw their heads over on their backs and collapsed. It 
was death in midair! We retrieved our birds and I 
took them and set them at the edge of the water, on 
the sand, with their heads tucked under their wings 
as though asleep. After congratulating ourselves on our 
good luck. Will asked: 

"Why did you tell me to aim right at the butt of the 
wing the first time and right at the bill this time?" 

"Because the first time we shot the birds were just 
hovering over our decoys and were almost motionless. 
It was not necessary to lead them at all. In this last shot, 
however, they were about twenty-five yards away and 
were flying slowly; that is, at the estimated rate of about 
fifteen miles an hour. If you aimed at the bill you 
would just about catch the body in the center of your 
pattern." 

"How do you make that out?" 

"Why, that is easily demonstrated. You can figure 
it in your head. Say, for example, that the bird is just 
thirty-three and one-third yards away. That is just 
one hundred feet. If it is flying fifteen miles an hour 
it flies one mile in four minutes. That is 5,280 feet in 
four minutes. Divide this by four and we find that 
the bird flies 1,320 feet in one minute. Then dividing 
that by sixty we find it flies twenty-two feet in one 
second. Now, your shot leaves the muzzle of the gun 
at an average velocity of 1,000 feet per second. If 
your bird is one hundred feet distant it is plain that it 
will take the shot one-tenth of a second to reach it. 
But we have seen that the bird flies twenty-two feet 
in one second, so that in one-tenth of a second it will 
fly two and two-tenths feet, and so we must hold, to be 
exact, two and two-tenths feet ahead of it. Of course, 
you cannot do this mental figuring in practice. You 
must learn, and can learn it only by experience, to 
instantly calculate the distance and speed of the bird 
and aim accordingly. In this case I estimated the dis- 



252 CHIC AND I 

tanee at about tweuty-five yards. If yon aimed at the 
bill you ought to have caught the body of the birds 
with your charge, as you aimed about fifteen to eighteen 
inches ahead of the vital portions of the bird's body." 

Will went out and got the birds and, on examination, 
w^e found that each bird had three or four shot in the 
body, while one also had a broken neck and the other 
had been hit in the head. He took the birds back and 
we had not long to wait before another flock came in. 
Our blind was well chosen and we had plenty of shoot- 
ing until after eleven o'clock, when the flight ceased. 
After the flight ceased we took things easy, keeping a 
sharp watch, however, for ducks, at which we got an 
occasional shot. 

The birds had spent the day on a sandbar about a 
mile below us, and about half past three o'clock they 
began to get uneasy and I looked for them to start 
back for the fields again. Sure enough they soon 
began to rise in small bands, circle around a little 
and return. After they had kept this up for some time 
one of these small parties of about twenty geese came 
sailing up to the river to our left. They hugged the 
bank pretty close and we moaned because we were not 
over there. But we had hardly given utterance to our 
lament when they wheeled and came down the river 
again, straight over us. I had been caught unawares 
and was outside the blind. I ha*.^ no time to get inside 
and so sank down on the ground outside. I was effectu- 
ally hidden from the geese, but they were also effectu- 
ally hidden from me. From inside the blind Will could 
look tlarough the interlaced branches and see the birds, 
but I could not. 

"You must give the word. Will," I whispered, "and 
be sure you do not give it too soon." 

There I crouched and waited until suddenly Will 
exclaimed: "Now!" I raised up and looked around at 
the birds and saw at once that they were too far away. 
There was nothing else to do, however, and we fired 
both barrels in the hope of scratching one down, but 



CHIC AND I 253 

we were unsuccessful. Will was very much chagrined, 
but I consoled him: 

"Never mind that," said I. "Old hunters will make 
that mistake sometimes. It is a good thing to remem- 
ber, however, that when a bird is coming toward you 
it isn't getting any farther away and you cannot very 
well wait too long. If we had let those birds come 
right over us and then shot at them from behind, it 
would have been good planning. That is a mistake 
that the beginner at goose shooting makes more fre- 
quently than any 6ther. The birds are so large that he 
does not realize how far away they are. He is ac- 
customed to estimating distances on ducks, prairie 
chickens, etc., and he will almost invariably shoot at 
geese when they are away out of range, because they 
are so large that they look to be much closer than they 
really are. Then again the birds fly faster than they 
appear to, and the beginner will shoot behind them for 
a long time." 

From this time on the shooting was fast and furious. 
Many ducks were mingled with the throng and w^e 
accumulated widgeons, pintails, teals and bluebills. It 
seemed as though the geese would never stop flying 
over us. Our twos were exhausted and we shot sixes 
at them. At forty yards I put a hole under the wing 
of a goose with sixes that I could put two fingers in. 
The shot had balled. Chic had had an easy time. I 
did not care to have her go into the icy water any more 
than was necessary and we had been able to retrieve 
most of the birds ourselves. At last I shot a goose 
which set its wings and sailed nearly two hundred 
yards before it fell. Chic watched it fall and wanted 
to go after it, and I gave her permission. Almost in 
stantly I regretted it. She had to swim the channel 
which I have mentioned. It was about twenty yards 
wide and full of floating ice. She sprang in without 
the slightest hesitation and I would not call her back. 
Climbing out on the ice on the other side, she raced 
away after the game. Taking a good grip on the dead 



254 



CHIC AND I 



bird she stai'ted back. Approaching the channel a 
large cake of ice was seen coming down. It was so 
large that It almost lilled up the channel, and my heart 
sank as I thought what if Chic should be run down by 
that and borne under the water? But she was fully 
equal to the emergency. As the huge cake swept by it 



-3JiS 



^^r^f 




"she leaped the intervening space with the ten 
OR twelve pound honker." 

approached within about two feet of her side of the 
channel and she leaped the intervening space with the 
ten or twelve pound honker as easily as though it had 
been a quail, trotted unconcernedly across the shaking 
and careening ice cake, plunged in on the side toward 
me, swam a few yards through the intervening water, 
and delivered the dead goose into my hands. She was 
still only a puppy eighteen months old! Proud of her? 
well, I should think I was! 



CHIC AND I 255 

Darkness was approaching and, altliougb the shooting 
was yet good, I did not relish the idea of finding our 
way back through that treacherous river, and through 
those channels of icy water after dark, so we began to 
make preparations for our departure. Will went out 
to take up the decoys while I tied the game into con- 
venient bunches. The guns lay on the bank in front 
of me. Suddenly Will called: "Mark!" I hastily seized 
my gun and turned just in time to see some birds going 
past with the speed of the wind. I had barely time to 
throw the gun to my shoulder and pull the trigger. 
Even as I pressed the trigger I realized that I would 
shoot behind. Pushing the gun ahead about six feet 
I pulled the second trigger and I thought I had killed 
the whole flock. Six ducks fell, one after another, and 
when I went to pick them up I was delighted to find 
that they were all redheads. All things must come to 
an end, and at last we were on our laborious way across 
tlie ice to the place where we had left our team. I car- 
ried my gun, two cranes, six or eight geese, about 
a dozen ducks and one dozen iron decoys. It was 
enough. Thus weighted I endeavored to step off the 
edge of the ice into a channel nearly hip deep. Will 
was longer limbed than I and had already crossed in 
safety. Just as I had one foot nearly to the bottom of 
tlio river, the other still resting on the ice, the ice gave 
way and down I went. In vain I endeavored to regain 
my equilibrium! The load I had on my back slowly 
pulled me over and down I went into the icy water. 
Will sprang in and grasped me by the collar and helped 
me out, but I hadn't a dry thread on me. I pulled off 
my boots and poured the water out of them and then 
pulled off my socks and stood on the ice in my bare 
feet while I wrung the water out of my socks! Pleas- 
ant? Well, hardly. I don't know but I would do it 
again, though, for another such a day. I did not feel 
much discomfort during the ride home, and as soon as 
I arrived I took a good rub with harsh towels and was 
none the worse for my ducking. Chic did not figure 



256 CHIG AND I 

much in this hunt, except that she retrieved a number 
of clucks for us; but as long as I live I will never forget 
the picture my beautiful little pointer made trotting 
across that piece of moving ice with the dead honker 
in her mouth. 



CHAPTER XX VII 

The Deadly Quicksand* 

1 had hunted a good deal with a man who, for ob- 
vious reasons, I will call X—. He kept a store at which 
I bought many things in his line, and I made it a sort 
of headquarters and spent many of my evenings there. 
He was" very fond of hunting and had all the parapher- 
nalia necessaiT for the thorough enjoyment of the 
chase. 1 had taught Chic to go to his store after any 
little articles that I miglit require which she could 
carry, principally cigars. This was done by going out 
with her one day, placing an envelope in her mouth 
and saying: "Take it to the store!" 1 then walked 
down to the store with her, opened the door for her, 
and when she ran in one of the clerks came and took 
the envelope out of her mouth. After two or three 
days of this practice I started out wath her as usual. 
It was only a block from my office to the store. She 
ran on ahead and I stopped. When she got about half 
way she looked around and saw that I was not coming 
and she stopped, too. "Take it to the store," called I, 
at the same time waving my hand. She went on a 
little way and stopped again. Then I walked up a 
little way and repeated the command. She turned and 
ran to the store and, the door being open, ran in and 
delivered the paper to one of the clerks and then came 
running back to me as fast as she could to see if she 
had done right. I petted and praised her and the les- 
son was learned. All that remained was practice, and 
as it amused people to see her do it, she got plenty of 
that. She was more eager to do it than any of the 



258 CHIC AND I 

other tricks she had learned, for she generally got a 
piece of candy when she got to the store. I would 
write down what I wanted on a piece of paper, tell her 
to take it to the store, they would receive it and put uip 
the package so that her teeth or saliva would not in- 
jure it, and send her back with it. 

X — had been a very hard drinker, but had succeeded, 
as everyone thought, in conquering his disease. Gos- 
sips told uie that in his drinking days he was a very 
dnn.uerous man when in his cups and that his hallucina- 
tions frequently amounted to temporary insanity. 
Business called me out of town during the Winter, and 
\^ hin I returned I was very much surprised and 
grieved to hear that X— had taken to drinking again. 
It never occurred to me, however, to pay any particular 
attention to what I had heard about his partial in- 
sanity. 

One day X— and I started out after geese. We went 
to about the same locality described in the last chapter, 
except that we entered the river about a half mile 
below where Will and I were, and made our blind on a 
sandbar instead of on a towhead. As we struggled out 
to the sandbar I noticed several "soft places" as we 
neared our bar, but thought nothing particular about 
them. Neither had I noticed, in the hurry of starting, 
that mj^ companion had quite a respectable "load" when 
we left town. I noticed it soon after we got away, 
however, when he drew a quart bottle out of his over- 
coat pocket and offered me a drink. I refused and en- 
deavored to persuade him not to drink any more, but 
he only laughed at me. I. felt uneasy, for I did not 
particularly enjoy the anticipation of a whole day on a 
sandbar with a drunken man, as I thought he would 
soon be. If he should become too much ovei-powered 
by the liquor to take care of himself, how would I 
ever get him off the sandbar and out of the river? I 
could not leave him there exposed to the weather; what 
would I do? These and other similarly unpleasant 
thoughts occupied my mind as we drove along and I 



CHIC AND I 259 

listened to his rambling talk, I remarked that it was 
not a good day for geese and I guessed we had better 
go back. I suddenly thought of important business 
that ought to be attended to that day, and finally was 
attacked with a terrible headache. But all to no pur- 
pose. He would not go back. We arrived at the river, 
tied our horses and unloaded our stuff. Then we 
gathered up our guns, decoys, lunch, etc., and placing 
the load upon our backs started across the river to our 
blind. It was with many misgivings that I helped my 
half-drunken comrade through the swift channels and 
over the shifting and treacherous sand. 1 cursed my 
carelessness in not noticing his condition before we 
started and wondered what would be the outcome. 
We arrived at the blind finally and set out our decoys, 
assembled our guns, made a place in the blind for 
Chic, and awaited the arrival of the geese. My com- 
panion beguiled the time with maudlin stories, and 
suddenly sprang out of the blind and began to sing 
and dance. Just then I saw a long line of black in 
the horizon that betokened the speedy arrival of the 
first of the honkers. 

"Mark, X—!" I called. "Southwest!" 

"To thunder with the geese!" he yelled, but the 
hunter's instinct in him induced him to spring back 
into the blind and quietly, but nervously, await their 
arrival. The birds swung in nicely and we each got 
two, one of which fell, wing-tipped, a long way off and 
was retrieved by Chic. During the flight which fol- 
lowed X— kept reasonably quiet, but kept taking sips 
out of the bottle which he had brought with him in 
spite of my earnest protests. The flight ceased about 
half-past eleven o'clock and I suggested that we might 
as well pick up our birds and go home; that there was 
no use waiting for the evening flight as we already 
had enough. He would not listen to the proposition 
and insisted on staying. As yet I had thought of no 
danger and nothing worse than inconvenience and 
bother had entered my mind. 



260 CHIC AND I 

My companion would eat no lunch, but kept resort- 
ing to tlie bottle which, to my great relief, was now 
nearly emptied. Finally the last drop was drained 
and the bottle thrown away, but had hardly struck 
the sand where it was thrown when, to my inexpressi- 
ble horror, he put his hand in his "pistol pocket" and 
drew out a pint flask. It seemed to me miraculous 
that he had not gone to sleep before this, but he did 
not even stagger. The liquor seemed to have no effect 
upon him except to make him nervous. Suddenly he 
accused me of shooting a goose that was coming on 
his side. Thinking to appease him I told him he might 
have all the birds if he wanted them. Now 1 knew he 
generally gave away all the birds he got, and that he 
would not care for the birds themselves, and I might 
have known, had I tliought of it, that it was the shot 
which aggravated him and not the possession of the 
birds. 

"Do you mean to insult meV" he yelled. "Don't you 
suppose I can kill all the birds 1 want without asking 
you to give me any? I'll show you whether I can kill 
birds or not!" and he seized his gun and advanced upon 
uje threateningly. 

There were no birds in siglit, and knowing there 
would not be for some time, we were out of the blind 
walking around on the sand. I looked at him and saw 
a crazy gleam in his eye, and now, for the first time, I 
remembered what I had been told about his dangerous 
and maniacal tendencies when in liquor. Like a flash 
came to me all the particulars that had been told me, 
and I remembered in particular how one man had said: 
"When X— drinks and don't get drunk or good natured, 
then look out for him." 

"Why, of course you are a good shot, X—," said I, 
soothingly. "Haven't you killed more birds to-day 
than I have?" 

"Then what the devil do you mean by offering to give 
me all the birds?" he demanded, angrily. 

During this colloquy he had been advancing slowly 



CHIC AND I 



261 



toward me and was now within a few feet of me. He 
carried the gun so that it pointed directly at my stom- 
ach, his thumb on the safety. Like a flash I remem- 
bered liow one time, when our talli happened to 
drift upon the subject of vital wounds, he had said that 
the worst place to shoot a man was in the bowels; that 
a man shot there might live for several days, but that 
eventually he must die. As he asked me the last ques- 




HE SEIZED HIS GUN AND ADVANCED UPON ME THREAT- 
ENINGLY. " 



tion I saw that the critical moment had come. Sud- 
denly I stooped down, and as I came up I swept out 
and up with my right arm, knocking the barrels of the 
gun upward. At the same time I seized the gun with 
my left hand and tried to wrest it from him. As I 
struck the gun both barrels were discharged, either 
from his pressure of the triggers or from the jolt, and 
to this fact I probably owe my life. Now began the 
most fearful struggle I ever had, or ever thought of. 



262 CHIC AND I 

My life depended upon my getting that gun, and I now 
had a perfect maniac to deal witli. His strength was 
doubled by his frenzy; I was fighting for life and felt 
that I had the strength of three ordinary men. Back 
and forth we surged, each keeping a firm grip on the 
gun and trying to wrest it from the other. His face 
was close to mine, his teeth were clinched, his lips 
parted, and through them his hot breath fanned my 
cheek. We each had on big, heavy boots and these 
aided in exhausting us. In our struggles I did not no- 
tice that the sand was getting softer and softer until 
suddenly, and almost without warning, my adversary 
sank to his hips. At the same moment, by a super- 
human effort, he wrested the gun from my grasp. As 
he did so I felt the sand yielding beneath me and in- 
stinctively threw myself at full length and began 
worming myself away. With a yell of triumph, he 
pointed the gun at me and snapped both barrels, but 
both were empty. In order to rest better during our 
nooning we had both thrown off our shooting coats 
and he had no more shells with him. By this time I 
was some ten or twelve feet away and, with a howl of 
disappointed rage, he threw the gun at me. 1 was just 
attempting to rise and the whirling missile struck me 
between the shoulders and knocked me headlong. 

My first thought was to secure the gun, which I did, 
and carried it to the blind. There I sat down, thor- 
oughly exhausted, and watched his futile attempts to 
free himself from the sand. With some satisfaction 
and a sense of returning safety, I saw him sink deeper 
and deeper as he struggled to free himself. He had on 
waders which came up to his breast and were fastened 
by straps over his shoulders. Then it occurred to me 
that I could not sit there and see him perish before my 
eyes. What should I do? To pull himi out meant an- 
other struggle with him, and I felt that I was unable 
to cope with him. As a first measure of safety I took 
both guns and started for the nearest towhead with 
them, taking both shooting coats, with the shells, along 



CHIC AND 1 263 

with me. Arriving there I looked around and saw that 
he was in the treacherous sand nearly up to his armpits. 
He was in over the tops of his waders, and I thought 
there was now no escape for him. Hurriedly casting 
my eyes about I saw some brush lying on the towhead. 
Quickly gathering up four or five of the largest branches 
I ran back to him. He was still cursing me and threat- 
ening death to me when he should get out. Going as 
near to him as I dared, I threvv^ two of the branches to 
him and told him to put them under his arms. With 
blind fury he threw them back at me, spear-fashion, 
again. Again 1 threw them out to him, talking sooth- 
ingly to him. and tried to pacify him. This time he 
evidently realized his position, for he tucked the two 
branches under his arms and tried to climb out on 
them. 

Taking two more of the branches and dragging 
tliem after me, I started for the shore, intending to go 
for help and return for him. I had gone but a little 
way when I felt the sand giving way beneath me. In- 
stead of throwing myself full length, as I should have 
done, I turned and tried to go back. The hesitation 
was nearly fatal. The treacherous sand gave way be- 
neath me and I sank considerably over my boot tops 
and nearly to my waist. In vain I struggled to free 
myself. I loosened the straps to my boots and tried to 
pull myself out of them for the tops were very loose, 
but the sand had poured in at the top and packed 
around my feet and I could not. I then ceased my 
struggles, gathered my precious branches under my 
arms and tried to think of some way out of my terrible 
predicament. Casting my eyes toward X~, I was 
horrified to see that he was nearly out. He had worked 
himself up on the branches I had thrown him, had un- 
fastened the straps that held up his waders, and was 
crawling out of them. His waders had come up so 
much higher than my boots that the sand had not 
packed around his feet, and slowly but surely he was 
freeing himself. Again I renewed my struggles but 



264 CHIC AND I 

only to settle deeper, and I therefore ceased my efforts. 
He was now quiet, but was working witli might and 
main, straining every muscle, and gradually extricating 
himself. At last he was out and lying full length on 
the sand. Then he commenced worming himself, snake 
fijshion, toward solid ground. 

When he felt the sand hard beneath him he sprang 
up with a yell and ran toward the blind. He found 
both guns and the shells gone and was furious in his 
disappointment. Turning around, his eyes fell upon 
the branches with which he had helped himself out, 
and at the same time he took in my helpless condition. 
The torrent of his abuse broke forth once more, and 
again casting liimself full length upon the sand, he 
crawled back and got one of the branches. Back to 
solid ground he again crawled and began trimming 
one of the branches by breaking off the smaller limbs. 
With blood almost congealing with agony 1 realized 
that he meant to make a club of the very instrument 
which I had brought for his preservation, with which 
to beat me to death. 

Having trimmed the branch to his satisfaction he 
looked at me again. The sight seemed to imbue him 
with new hatred and vigor, and, brandishing the club 
over his head, he yelled with blood-curdling ferocity. 
In his new-born idea he seemed to forget the treach- 
erous sand from which he had just escaped, and with 
a maniacal laugh started fiercely toward me. He came 
on a run, but just as he was within about fifteen feet of 
mie down he went again into the sand. He sank to his 
waist, and in the rage of his disappointment he hurled 
the club at me, but it whizzed over my head harmlessly. 
He was now without anything to assist him, and as 
he clawed madly at the quivering quagmire he sank 
deeper and deeper. I was now so deep in the sand 
that I felt my weight resting on the branches which 
were tucked under my arms, and I vaguely wondered 
how long they would keep me up. Then 1 thought that 



CHIC AM) i 265 

possibly the river would rise during the uight aud we 
would both be drowned like rats in a trap. 

AVhether I went to sleep or whether I lost my senses 
in a swoon, I know not. There seemed to be 
a period during which I was oblivious to my 
fearful surroundings. I seemed to be a child again 
and was playing with some playmates of my youth in 
my home dooryard. The sun was shining brightly 
and gentle breezes played through the brandies of the 
old apple trees that even now I remember so well. As 
we played the scene changed. The bright green and 
golden faded to a dismal gray and then white; the 
leaves dropped from off the trees; the ground became 
covered with snow and the Winter's winds sang dirge- 
like through the leafless branches. Then one of my 
playmates, a mischievous girl, suddenly washed my 
face with a ball of snow. 

I awoke, or recovered from my swoon, witli a start. 
Something cold had been on my face, and ^vith a re- 
turning hope I saw poor little Chic lying flat on her 
stomach, her legs spread out, and her cool nose against 
my cheek. I petted her and stroked her glossy iiead, 
while she whined and plainly showed that she knew 
that soiuething was wrong. Suddenly, lilve an inspira- 
tion, came to me a ray of hope. Groping down into the 
sand and finding my vest pocket, hoping to find there 
what I always had with me, and yet doubting, 1 felt a 
thrill of joy when my finger touched the point of a 
lead pencil. Only a lead pencil, but to me the instru- 
ment of life. I felt again and found an old letter and 
drew it out; but it was soaked and nothing could be 
written upon it. My heart sank again. I stroked Chic's 
head and thought as hard as ever I did in my life. I 
looked at her collar. I could not write on that, and if 
I did it would not be seen. Ah! I have it. When I 
went to the towhead after the branches, I had put on 
my hat, which had fallen off during my struggle with 
X— . It was a canvas, shooting hat and inside the 
sweatband was a strip of linen. In a moment I had it 



266 CHIC AND I 

off and tore out the piece of cloth. Then, wetting my 
pencil, and writing very slowly and plainly, I wrote: 

" , X— and I are both stuck in the quicksand. 

For God's sake come quickly and bring help. Bring 
ropes." 

I signed this and, speaking cheerfully to Chic, said: 
"Up Chic!" She sprang up and stood looking at me, 
wagging her tail joyfully. Having four feet to stand 
on, and being light, she did not sink in the sand very 
much. Placing the cloth in her mouth I said, in a tone 
of command: 

"Take it to the store!" 

She looked at me in evident surprise, and I repeated 
the command and she sprang off with alacrity. Oh, 
how I watched her! Would she execute her commis- 
sion under such circumstances? She ran about forty 
yards and then stopped and looked around at me, and 
before I could say anything, or motion to her, she 
started and ran back to me, dropping the cloth on the 
way. My heart sank, but I did not chide her. I only 
said: 

"Go back and get it." 

She ran and picked up the cloth and came back to 
me again and dropped it in front of me. She knew she 
had done wrong for she crouched and whined. I 
thought I understood her. She knew what 1 wanted 
but did not want to leave me. I spoke soothingly to 
her, petted her a little and then replaced the cloth in 
her mouth and repeated the command. She sprang off 
as before, ran about forty yards again, and again 
stopped and looked at me. But this time she did not 
run back, and I waved my hand to her and cried: 

•'Go on! Take it to the store!" 

Without any more hesitation, without again looking 
around, she started for the shore. Oh, how eagerly I 
watched her! On she went over the ice, plunged into 
the channels and swam them, holding her head high, 
on over the towheads and through the brush— not in 
the devious way in which we had come to avoid deep 



CllIC AND I 267 

channels, but in a bee-line. I saw her climb out on the 
shore a full half mile away. Even then she did not 
turn her head, but went straight on up through the 
pasture to the road. I saw her strike the road, but my 
heart sank again as I saw her go straight across the 
road instead of turning toward town. For an instant 
she was lost to my sight as she went through a deep 
ditch on the other side of the road, and then she came 
into sight again as she climbed up on the railroad track 
on the other side of the ditch. And then I saw her 
settle down into that long, swinging, rapid stride that 
carried her over the ground so fast. The railroad ran 
in a bee line to town and w^as a good half mile nearer 
than the wagon road. 

My bibulous companion had been very quiet, and I 
uow turned my head, which was all I could turn, to- 
ward him. Incredible as it may seem he was sound 
ti sleep! The fumes of the liquor he had drank, to- 
gether with his enforced quietness, had at last over- 
come his senses and there he was, his arms spread out 
on the sand, his head toppled over on one side, and 
actually snoring! Relieved from the sense of any im- 
mediate danger I could not repress a smile at the 
sonorous music that came across the quivering sand. 

My thoughts now turned again to Chic. The last I 
had seen of her she was flying down the railroad track 
as though on wings. Would she get there safely? 
Would the three savage dogs in that farmyard near 
the track let her safely by? They wouldn't if they 
could catch her, but I knew they could not do that. 
There were trestles to cross. How would she get over 
them? It was eight miles to town. If she got there 
safely and delivered her message it would be at least 
two hours before I could expect relief. I looked at the 
sun; it was just about two hours high. Where had 
the afternoon gone? Then I thought of my dream, or 
vision, for it was almost as realistic as a vision, and 
my thoughts wandered back to the dear old homestead 
and the scenes of my childhood. 



268 CHIC AND I 

Slowly sank the orb of day. I bad ceased to sink 
any deeper, and now knew that the branches would 
hold me safely. X— seemed to have struck hardpau 
(he was taller than I), for he did not go any deeper. 
Solemnly, and with a feeling akin to awe, I watched 
the sun disapipear over the Western hills and wondered, 
with a shudder, if I would ever see it again. I was 
chilled through and through. There was no danger of 
freezing, for if the sand had been frozen we could not 
have sunk in it; but I began to feel the terrible ex- 
haustion incident to such an experience and the ex- 
posure. 

The twilight deepened, and I began to feel misgivings 
concerning the result of my message. My companion 
awoke and the whetting and the sleep had dissiipated 
his mania. He was no longer a raving maniac, but he 
was still a pretty ugly customer. He began to growl 
and swear at me again. Oh, would they never come? 
What had happened to Chic? Surely she would not 
fail me now! It was terrible to think of such a death 
as that! My arms and legs began to fill with cramps 
and shooting pains. Again my head began to swim, 
and darkness seemed coming on with unw^onted rapid- 
ity, when suddenly I was electrified by the rattle of 
wagon wheels! Instantly my eyes opened wide. I 
twisted my head and there, on the wagon road, which 
I could see for a long way, I saw a wagon with two 
horses and as many men as the wagon could hold, com- 
ing, with the horses on a run and the driver plying the 
whip! Close behind them were two men on horseback, 
and all running for dear life. I recognized the men 
and the horses. The man driving was a friend of 
mine, and beside him sat one of X— 's clerks. In front 
of the wagon, and still running with that long, tireless 
swing, was my darling Chic! On they came and dashed 
up to the gate that opened into the pasture. Before 
reaching it one of the men on horseback had cut around 
and, putting his horse to an extra spurt of speed, had 
arrived at the gate and oipened it. With scarcely slack- 



CHIC AND I 



269 



ened speed the wagon swung through the open gate 
and down across the pasture— full of little humps 
though it was— on the dead run! The men jumped out^. 
One man stopped to tie the horses; all the others 
crawled through the fence and came on toward us, 
Chic leading the way. Now it was man against man. 








CHIC NESTLED DOWN CLOSE BESIDE ME AND LAID IIEK 
FACE AGAINST MY CHEEK." 

Some could run faster than the others and they began 
to string out. There was no time for choosing ground, 
but on they came, following my little dog, and she came 
in a straight line. No hip boots had they, and no 
waders, but they stopped not for channels of icy water 
but came straight on! Noble fellows. There, one went 
down! He fell in the channel, but he was soon up 



270 CHIC AND I 

again, climbed out on the ice and came on again! Now 
the leader, whose gaunt, rugged and powerful form was 
easily recognized, stopped on the last towhead, about 
one hundred and fiftj^ yards away, and scanned the 
sand anxiously. 
"Hello-o-o!" he yelled. "Where are you?" 
I tried to call out to let them know where we were, 
but my voice stuck in my throat. I could not make a 
sound. Then the next man behind the leader came up, 
and exclaimed: 
"Follow the dog. Don't you see her?" 
"Yes, but we may get in the sand, too." 
"There's enough here to pull us out if we do," came 
the reply, and on they came again. 

Again a mist seemed to come before my eyes. Rescue 
was now so near and the relief from the terrible strain 
was so great, that the reaction was terrible. I felt as 
if about to faint again when a dear, cold nose was 
rubbed against my face and, with a whine of content, 
Chic nestled down close beside me and laid her face 
against my cheek. 

"I see one of them," I heard someone say, and then I 
knew no more. One of them got down on his stomach 
and crawled out to me, put the ropes under my arms 
and pulled me out. Then the same was done for X—. 
They asked him w^here the guns were, but he did not 
know. He had forgotten all that occurred on that terri- 
ble afternoon; or, perhaps it w^ere better to say that he 
never knew. They carried me to a towhead, forced 
some spirits down my throat and rubbed my chilled 
and stiffened limbs until I came to. I told them where 
to get the guns and we were soon on our way home. 
Chic rode home with us, and one of those good-hearted 
fellows took off his own coat and spread it over her so 
that she should not catch cold. 

They told me she came running up to the store and 
found the door shut. She then ran across the street to 
a man there and jumped about him and whined to at- 
tract his attention. He tried to take the note from her. 



CHIC AND I 271 

but she sprang away and ran back to the store where 
she stood and looked so wistfully at him that he must 
have been dull, indeed, if he had not known what she 
wanted. He went across and opened the door for her. 
M— , X— 's head clerk, w^as seated at a desk and Chic 
ran up, jumped up and put her paws on the desk and 
fairly thrust the note into his face. He read it and in 
an instant all was confusion. He rushed out of the 
door and yelled in such a manner that in less time than 
it takes to tell it there were two or three men running 
up to him. A light wagon stood in front of a black- 
smith's shop and a team belonging to a banker stood 
near by, hitched to a buggy. It was but the work of a 
moment to unhitch the horses from the buggy and hitch 
them to the wagon. A hardware store had in the 
meantime been raided for ropes and they were ready 
to start. 

All this time Chic had been very impatient, and when 
they were ready to start M— said: "Go on. Chic!" and 
away she went at the top of her speed. They had to 
put the horses into a run to keep up with her, but, of 
course, w^ould have done so anyway. There ^as noth- 
ing too good for Chic after that, and there ^^as no one 
to sneer at her fancy training. 

A few days' good care brought m^ around all right. 
As for Chic— she could have wo'*n diamonds, but the 
foolish little thing preferred beefsteak. 

It is not without a feeling pkin to regret that I bring 
these lines to a close. Through many a long Winter 
evening they have beguil^^d the time away. I have, in 
them, lived over again some of my most enjoyable 
hunts, renewed acqu^Jntances and friendships with 
jovial companions, again felt the blood tingle with the 
excitement of the chase, again felt the thrill of triumph, 
the sting of defeat. CMc has helped me write them, 
for she has been with me. As I think them over it 
seems to me that the bird that gives me greatest pleas- 
ure to outwit and bring to bag is the wily, swift and 



272 CHIC AND I 

cunning Canada goose, but Chic does not agree with 
me. 

Even now she leaves her place on the rug and comes 
and lays her dear head on my knee. As I stroke her 
she looks up at me, her eyes full of love and intelli- 
gence, and wags her tail energetically. 

"What is it, puppy?" I ask. 

"Come," she replies, "let's go out and get a quail." 



THE END. 




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patterns and great penetration. 



*'E. c:' No. 1 

Is for heavy charges for duck and pigeon shooting, etc. 
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Is for small charges for 2}^ to 3 drams for quail, 
targets, etc. A new powder, very quick, with no re- 
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SEE the mention of "E. C," Powder 

by the author of this book on pages 181, 182 and 183 

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See "Ben Hur's" opinion on pages 81, 82 and 83 of this book, 
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Von Lengerke & Antoine, 

IMPORTERS, MANUFACTURERS AND DEALERS IN 

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L. C. Smith Guns, send for our 

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277 WRBRS^^ RVENUE 

CHICAGO. 



ESTABLISHED 1840 
....Hanufacturers of.... 

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Established 1874 

Incorporated 1893. 



PUBLISHERS, IMPORTERS 
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Every Sportsman 
Should Read 



Shooting on Upland^ Marsh and Stream ^ 

By WILLIAM BRUCE LEFFINOWELL. 

Cloth. Illustrated. Price $3.00 

Wild Fowl Shootings 

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Cloth. Illustrated. Price $2.00 

The Art of Wing Shooting s 

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Cloth. Illustrated. Price $ 1 .00 

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By WILLIAM BRUCE LEFFINGWELL. 

Cloth. Price $1.00 



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PRBD D. DIVINE 



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^ CLARK'S PATENT FOLDING BOAT 



FOLDING CAMP COT 




DIVINE'S CELEBRATED 
SPLIT BAMBOO AND WOOD 
BAIT AND FLY RODS 
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The 

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It will wind up the line a 
hundred times as fast as any 
other reel in the world. It 
will wind up the line slowly. 
No fish can ever get slack line 
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than any other reel. Manip- 
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that holds the rod. 

Send for Catalogue 

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Rochester, N. Y. 



Automatic 




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O^) 



§8 WE MAKE ONLY 

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FISHING TACKLE= i 
NOTHING ELSE. 

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BAIT CASTING REELS 

BASS REELS, TROUT REELS 

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IT HAS A. 



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Fewest Parts, 
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THE SPORTSMAN'S JOURNAL. 

ESTKBL-ISHED ISV'-^^. 

PUBLISHED WEEKLY— NEW YORK AND CHICAGO. 

The Recognized Authority and the Leading Illustrated 
Journal in America Devoted to Recreative Sports. 

The Departments of the American Field are Game and Shootincj, Hunting, Fish 
and Fishin.8:, Natu'al History, Travel. Kennel, Coursing:, Yachting;, Cycling, Ath- 
letics, Rifle, Trap Shooting, Answers to Correspondents and Trade Gossip. 

Contributions for publication are solicited from men and women interested in 
outdoor recreations, and discussions for the betterment and elevation of sports- 
manship, free from personalities, will be welcomed. 

The American Field is read in every rart of the English-speaking world. As 
an advertising medium for all lines of business none better can be found, as a fair 
trial will amply prove. The rates for classified advertisements are printed at the 
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Can be titted with center board and sail making a perfect sail boat. 

CATALOGUE, WITH FULL DESCRIPTION, 
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ESTABLISHED 1832. 



GOODERHAM & WORTS 



( 1. 1 MIT lily 



Distillers, Maltsters 



ETC., ETC. 



HIS, the best of Cana- 
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Our potable whiskies are 
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\ 



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GOLD MEDALS AWARDED 



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The Finest and Oldest 
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There are others 
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<^. 



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i^'~^^. JF 




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REMEMBER 


COOKING TROUT 




IN YELLOWSTONE LAKE. 


THAT ALONG 

THE LINE OF 



THE ^ 
NORTHERN 

PACFIC 



CAN BE FOUND 

ALL KINDS OF GAME 

LARGE AND SMALL. 



MINNESOTA NORTH DAKOTA 

For Bass For Chickens, Ducks, Geese. 

MONTANA YELLOWSTONE 

For Bear, Deer. Elk, PARK por the Finest 

Moose, Mountain Sheep Trout Fishing 

and Qoats. in the World. % % % 



FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, 



CHJ^^. S. FEB 

General Passenger Agent ST. PAUL, MINN. 

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BEST LINE TO DENVER AND FOOT HILL CITIES 

Chicago, Rock Island 
and Pacific Railway 

THIS IS A BUSINESS MAIN'S TRAIN AND CALLED "BIG FIVE' 



:soTh: Tim timb 

Leave Chicago at lo p. m.; arrive at Denver, Col' 
orado Springs and Pueblo early second morning. 

What Could Be Better? 

The Trip Made with Only One Day Out. 

It is a Magnificent, Modern Train. Try it. 



The Route is via Omaha and Lincoln^ Neb, 

Our former Through Trains of Vestibuled Service and Fast Time that 
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now "THE GREAT ROCK ISLAND" can give their Patrons choice of 

THREE ROUTES TO THE FOOT HILLS 



W. H. Truesdale W. I. Allen Jno. Sebastian 

Vice-l'res. and (U-nl Mj.'i-. .\.«st (ienl M«t. (ieii'l Pass, and Tkt. Apt 




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WHERE TO GO 

FOR GOOD 



THE BEST 

GAME COUNTRY 
in the MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 
TaDAY^^ 



IS ALONG THE LINE 
OF THE 






|RONi\i 



'iiiiiiJi ''Vi!:;: I 

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Arkansas ♦♦ 
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SMA.LL GJiMB 



lis very abundant, and has been shot at very little Deer and Turkey are 

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very best. This Line also reaches direct from St. Louis or Memphis. 

by double daily through car service, the famous hunting and fishing grounds 

on the Gulf. 

SPECIAL Reduced Rates to Sportsmen. 

PPATITDPQ Hunting Cars Fully Equipped. 

^cccr;cf^ ^'de Tracking Cars on or Near the 
OFFERED Grounds. 

"^^^ Carrying Free of Dogs, Guns and Camp 
^ Equipment. 

WRITE '''^'' *^°P>' °* Ideal Hunting and Fishing Pamphlet (descriptive and illusirated) 
of best locations and othei' informati'in, I'l I ompaiiy'^ Agents, or 

H. C. TOWNSEND, 

GENERAL PASSENGER AND TICKET AGENT 
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GOOD SHOOTING ^ 
IN THE SOUTH — "^ 



ON THE LINES OF. 
AND AT POINTS REACHED BY, THE 



Illinois ^^i^ GentFal 



YAZOO AND MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 
RAILROADS. 

IN SEASON GOOD SPORT MAY BE HAD WITH EITHER 

DEER QUAIL DUCKS BEAR SNIPE GEESE 

SQUIRRELS WOODCOCK TURKEYS 

ENNESSEE, Mississippi and Louisiana produce an abundance of the 
above game, each species in regions according to its habits, being 
harbored by mild winters, luxuriant feed and cover, wide river-bottoms, virgin 
forests, corn brakes, rice fields, sea marshes, wet prairies and other favorable 
characteristics of those States. Their comparatively untrodden hunting grounds 
are reached direct from Chicago and points East and West, by the Illinois 
Central's fast \estibule trains. 

FOR PARTICULARS AS TO HUNTING, 
ADDRESS 



e^ 



,7AO. A. SCOTT, 

Division Passenger Agent, 

MEMPHIS. 

A. //. i/AASO.V 

General Passenger Agent. 

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-Sr Shooting and Fishing 

The Country on and tributary to the lines of the 

CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL RT 

Cannot be surpassed. Excellent accommodations may be had: also guides, 
boats, etc. 

SHOOTING 

Prairie Chickens, Ducks, Geese, etc., in Iowa, Minnesota, South and North 
Dakota. Deer in Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan 

FISHING 

Brook Trout, Bass, Muscallonge are at their best in Northern Wisconsin and 
the peninsula of Michigan. 

CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE k ST. PAUL RT 

Is the only line running Electric Lighted and Steam Heated Vestibule Trains 
between 

CHICAGO, ST. PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS 

...AND... 

CHICAGO, OMAHA AND SIOUX CITY 

Send to GEO. H. HEAFFORD, General Pass. Agent, Chicago, IN., 
l!or detailed information, game laws, time tables, etc. 

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Hunting 



Deer, Bears, Wild Turkeys, Prairie 
Chickens, Ducks. 



Fishing: 



Black Bass, Mountain Trout, Red Snap= 
per, Spanish Mackerel. 



Health! 



Seashore at San Diego, Quif at GaU 
veston, Mountains=<=Colorado, Plains of 
Kansas. 



ALL ON THE 



Santa Fe 



ROUTE 



« 

Greatest Railroad in the World 

FOR DESCRIPTIVE PAMPHLETS, 
ADDRESS 

Q. T. NICHOLSON, Q. P. A., A. T. & S. F. R'y. 

GREAT NORTHERN BUILDING 
CHICAGO, ILL. 

1 can tell you of some places not known to most sportsmen 



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TIIK 



BBST BISHING 
— SHOOTING 
GROUNDS 

....IN.... 

Illinois 
and Wisconsin 

ARE REACHED 
BY • • 



The Wisconsin 
Central 
Lines ^ 



SEND 4 CENTS 

FOR DETAILED INFORMATION 

AND RATES. 



Q. K. THOMPSON, 

City Passenger Agent, 
CHICAGO. 



JAS. C. POND, 

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MILWAUKEE. 



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